The Plot Bunny Menace
by Arysthae
Summary: A store for all of my Death Note plotbunnies that won't leave me alone. Mostly involving the Wammy's Boys or Light, though I love my side-characters, too. Chapter 18: Sayu's starting a new year at the most prestigious school in all of Europe, Wammy's University, following in the footsteps of her brother, Light. Follow her misadventures with restless roommates and noisy neighbours.
1. The Kitamura OC

******Welcome to the PlotBunny Menace. Each chapter is prefaced with a summary so so you can look for your favourite ones and skip the ones you dislike. I support neither Kira nor L , so you will see a mixture of both types of stories in this mini archive. I prefer to focus upon main characters, though I have nothing against OCs, as shown by this first chapter. **

**Summary: Light wasn't the only person put under surveillance. So was the Deputy Director Kitamura's family, and the eldest daughter was approached by Mogi claiming to be L. Why aren't there any OCs about them? Why then do fanfiction authors persist in making unrealistically related OCs? The Yagami family does not need another child. L would not fall in love with some random child from the orphanage who is likely a decade younger than him. This is a realistic OC, with perhaps more intelligence than required. No romance. **

* * *

**The Kitamura OC**

Kitamura Natsumi hoisted her bag over her shoulder as she made her way through the bust streets of Kanto. She'd just finished taking notes at her last lecture for the day at To-Oh university, on Forensic Analysis, and was tired beyond belief. It was a busy street for 2pm in the afternoon and it irked Natsumi, who wanted nothing more than to get home and go over her notes for English Grammar.

She turned the corner and reached her family home. Yes, her family home. Natsumi was 20, in her second year of college and still lived with her parents. Perhaps it was pathetic, but it wasn't exactly like a policeman and the PA of a urban planner got a lot of money, and flats were expensive nowadays, especially in the heart of Tokyo near To-Oh. Anyway, Natsumi's house was 20 minutes away from To-Oh campus (10 by train, 10 by walking), so it would have been pointless to waste money on a flat.

Either way, Natsumi didn't talk about her home to her friends at university. If they assumed it was for adverse reasons, Natsumi wasn't about to correct them. Perhaps her pride was a little too overfloated, but living with your parents at the age of 20 was pretty embarrassing. Especially since her peers all lived with roommates in funky flats and attended parties all the time.

Though, Natsumi grinned as she rummaged through her bag for her house keys, they weren't at the top of their class. She was. The door unlocked easily and Natsumi walked inside and stopped.

Perhaps it was silly, but something seemed different…scarily different. Just for a moment, as she'd walked through the door, her heart-rate had risen and there has been an uncomfortable feeling in her gut.

Natsumi shut the door with a frown and looked around the foyer and main hallway. Nothing seemed overtly different.

"Hello?" called Natsumi, not really expecting an answer. Her dad was never home, her younger brother's classes and after-school judo club didn't finish until 4:30pm and her mother was out today, taking notes for the urban-planner. There was no response and satisfied, Natsumi started humming Beethoven as she walked into the kitchen. Dumping her bag on the counter, Natsumi reached for some grapes from the fruit. On the fridge, stuck with a bright purple magnet, was a new note, on top of her brother's sketches for his art classes.

Natsumi plucked it off and started reading.

_Natsumi,_

_The builders were in today doing work on the upstairs hallway- make sure they haven't broken anything. Also, this morning, Sachiko-san called. It seems that Sayu-chan wants some more help with her science work, and with Light-kun so busily studying for his entrance exams to To-Oh, Sachiko-san was asking for your assistance. So visit them after-school and do give Sachiko-san the red containers in the fridge. They're from the New Year's celebrations and I haven't given them back yet._

_Your brother will be home at four, his judo club finishes early. I know that you don't get along, but do try to not kill each other. I will be home at five, your father will be working late again. Without Yagami-san in the office to share paperwork with, your father is left with a larger workload._

_Love, Mother_

Natsumi rolled her eyes and threw the purple note in the bin, as she finished the last of the grapes left on the vine. Working with Sayu-chan would be amusing, but it would detract from her studying for English Grammar, which was very difficult for Natsumi, who had only started studying English in her high school, instead of Junior High like many other students.

However, the Yagami family paid good money for the tutor sessions that Sayu asked for, and Natsumi did need that money, if she ever wanted to live away from her parents. She might have had a part-time job at the forensics lab in Kanto, but they hardly paid the intern a lot of money, especially when most of her jobs were to input data on a computer and fetch samples from the police station.

Natsumi sighed as she picked up her English grammar book absently. She had three chapters of reading material and practice. That deserved to be done alongside biscuits in the least. She opened the cupboard door and rummaged for the packet. She'd definitely bought biscuits and put them here yesterday, and even her greedy pig of a brother couldn't have finished them in one day.

Grabbing the biscuits from the container, Natsumi started eating as she climbed the stairs to her room. It was plainly obvious as she rounded onto the hallway of the stairs that the builders had been in. The new golden wallpaper was neatly plastered on and there was still a layer of cloth on the floor, as the ceiling was yet to be completed. It looked pretty cool, though, Natsumi was annoyed that her parents had used that money on new furnishing, rather than a flat for her.

Suddenly, she frowned. One of the corners of the wallpaper was peeling already. She frowned, that wasn't like the builders. They had seemed so thorough in everything else. She grabbed a stool from the other room and placed her biscuits on the mantelpiece of her brother's room. Standing on her tip-toes, she tugged at the flap, but it refused to stay down. Something cold and metallic seemed to be impeding the progress of the glue.

Standing on the stool, Natsumi attempted to move the obstruction from the wallpaper. As she identified what the object was, Natsumi shrieked and fell off the stool in horror.

Staring back into her face was a camera. She clapped her hands over her mouth and edged backwards on her bum, not daring to take her eyes away from the huge violation of human rights acts and the law right in front of her. She felt her breath quicken and forced herself to calm down. It was doubtful that it was a criminal, because nowadays, it was difficult to find clever criminals, if the forensic crimes and crime psychology case studies she'd researched had shown. No, criminals nowadays were more about cut and run, kill and go. Not surveillance.

So it wasn't criminals, and this was hardly recent. They wouldn't have had the opportunity to. Today was the first day they would have had that chance to install the cameras, along with the builders. If Natsumi hadn't been so curious, she was sure that the ruse would have gone unnoticed.

So, who would have been able to completely disregard the law? Not the police for sure, she knew that her dad kept to the law as rigidly as he could. Someone above the law, then? The only person that came to mind was…

"L." she uttered aloud, standing up, her hands still shaking as she brushed down her trousers. "This violation is part of L's investigation…correct?"

Natsumi had no doubt that there were wires that would hear her response, if L was installing cameras in her household, there would be wires as well.

"And the only investigation that L is conducting at the moment…is that Kira investigation. And surveillance in this kind of manner is only taken when there are very few suspects. Therefore, someone or all of the people in this household are suspected of being Kira, right?"

There seemed to be no response, and Natsumi realised belatedly that they wouldn't be able to communicate with her. That would have been a rather redundant situation. Natsumi grabbed her laptop from her bag and turned it on, keeping her eyes trained on the camera.

"I'm going to turn on my computer. Email me, if my conclusions are correct. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to go to court. This is severely illegal." said Natsumi coldly, as her hand snaked towards a biscuit. She needed food. This…this was shocking. The computer loaded far too slowly for her liking, but Natsumi controlled her breathing. No point getting overly panicked.

She opened her email with bated breath. The generic spam mail from various websites and from her friends filled her inbox, but a message sent only a minute ago was from a hidden IP address. Natsumi opened it, her hands shaking a little. The only word in the centre of the screen, was 'Correct'.

Natsumi felt the tension leave her shoulders. So she wasn't completely lacking deductive skills. Good to know. What to do now? Oh yes...

"Are there cameras everywhere in the house?" she asked.

An email pinged into her inbox again. She selected it and the word 'Yes' filled her vision. She felt her eye twitch a little.

"Even in the bathroom?" she asked.

There was no response, and in Natsumi's eyes that was as good as an admission to it. She felt her legs patter against the hard floor as she rushed to their bathroom, turning on the light. She quickly scanned the room. Where would she put cameras if she were L? She looked around a bit more but the answer eluded her grasp. No, the question wasn't what L would do. It was what would someone who wanted to see whatever was going on in the bathroom want to see? In other words...

"Now, if I were a pervert, where would I put cameras?" she mused to herself as she vaulted into the shower cubicle. The showerhead would be a good place, and no sooner had she thought this, she noticed a little device mounted on the top of the shower head which would have blended in unnoticed if Natsumi hadn't had to draw some everyday object in Art, the shower head of this house being her choice. Perfect coincidence.

Now, she couldn't just rip off the camera, because there would be wires, and the electricity would transfer to the metal and the entire cubicle the moment the water touched it. Therefore...

Natsumi ran back to her room and quickly searched online. Not for how to remove a camera, obviously, that was too obtuse(and too suspicious) a line of reasoning to even exist online. Now however, removing a light fixture from the wall? That was a perfectly valid line of reasoning.

There... Okay, firstly, turn off power source. That would mean the generator in the garage. Thanks god today was sunny, or else Natsumi would be running blind. She hadn't the first idea how to go about doing DIY. That was all done by the people they hired. No one in the family had skills in that area of things. Her father's previously dangerous job as detective had been reduced to a desk job, her mother was the PA to an urban planner, her brother was too busy dealing with school, cram school and judo lessons at the same time and she was just a college student with a part-time job at the DNA lab, running errands for the police.

There was a screwdriver however, lying out randomly on her brother's desk(maybe he was branching into mechanics on top of everything), so she grabbed that, as the next step was to unscrew the covering. Natsumi made her way down to the garage and padded through the stone floor as she unlocked the door. With a sigh, she flicked off the generator and made her way back upstairs. The house was no longer filled with the humming of the refridgerator nor was the churning of the hot water device audible either as she made her way back up the stairs again and into the bathroom to unscrew the fixture. Maybe L's cameras wouldn't work now...fat chance.

(X)

Even with the computer's instructions and her surprising speed at managing to locate the 10 cameras and three wires, it took her all the way to when her brother arrived back at the house.

"Onii-chan..." asked her brother as he walked into the bathroom, "Why aren't the lights working?" He was still dressed in his uniform and he frowned at Natsumi from underneath his black hair. People often asked if she and him were twins, for their light features and black hair were near identical, if her brother's hair was a tad longer. Both were quick to deny these allegations. The relationship between the two was cordial at best. Not like the perfect brother-sister relationship between the Yagamis (sometimes Natsumi envied Sayu a little).

"Because I'm doing DIY and don't want to electrocute myself." said Natsumi as she unhooked the last of the cameras from its place behind the medicine cabinet. A tangle of screws and wires came out from behind the cabinet and Natsumi dumped it inside the paper envelope that she'd been using to store the expensive electronics.

He brother threw her a strange look. "You're so weird, onii-chan. You've never shown any interest in DIY before."

Natsumi shrugged, throwing her braid behind her back, as she checked over the bathroom for the last time. "I don't know, the urge came upon me."

Her brother frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Ten days before your final exams for this college term?"

"Ten days before your own exams as well, onii-san." Natsumi sighed as she swept her way out of the bathroom. "You can turn on the generator on now. Everything should work again."

"I'm telling mum!" said her brother, as he stalked after her to her computer.

"You do that, Tsuro-kun. She asked me to do it anyway. She said that the builders had been in today and that I needed to check stuff to make sure they hadn't screwed it up." said Natsumi calmly as she sent a reply to the unknown IP address, asking where she should deliver the expensive equipment from the bathroom, because she would hate to throw such expensive cameras in the bin.

"You're such a liar Natsumi." said Tsuro, spitting out the words hatefully. "I bet mum and dad don't know half of what you've been up to. You're so secretive."

Natsumi suppressed a sigh, of course her brother would say that when L had cameras posed on their house and had everyone in the house as suspects of Kira. "Secretive? I'm busy, Tsuro-kun. I have work, school and tutoring to get done. You'll understand when you're an adult too." That was a reminder, she had lost the time she was going to take to glance over the English Grammar. Looked like tonight was another late night studying again.

The email pinged and Natsumi opened it hastily. It read 'The Police Headquarters', in clear letters. Perfect, that was on the way to the Yagami household. Maybe she would even get time to read a bit more of the English Grammar on the way there.

(X)

Natsumi drew her coat tighter around her as she walked towards the police station. It was perhaps a good thing that she was headed here , she'd needed to pick up some forensic samples from Aizawa-san for the lab anyway, and this would save her some energy. It was a chilly January morning and she frowned as she finally made it inside. Yagami Light was exiting from the receptionists.

"Hey Yagami-kun." Natsumi said quickly.

"Yes, Kitamura-san?" asked Light, looking politely interested.

"Can you tell your sister that I'll be there in about half an hour to tutor her? I've just got to drop off some sample at the lab before I can be there." Natsumi asked.

Light nodded. "Easily done, Kitamura-san. By the way, my mother appreciated the kirikinton dish your mother made for the New Year's party. It's her favourite dish all year, and your mother makes it very well."

Natsumi smiled easily. "I'll be sure to tell her! See you this evening, Yagami-kun."

Light nodded, before walking out of the police department again. Natsumi walked towards the receptionists. "Hello, I'm here to collect some evidence from Aizawa-san for the lab? It's Kitamura Natsumi asking."

The receptionist nodded and dialed up a number. Natsumi waited patiently and the receptionist smiled at her. "Take the stairs up. Aizawa-san will be with you very shortly."

Natsumi smiled a little bit as she walked up the stairs. She was familiar with the building now. She'd been in the internal part of the building only twice before, yet the open and light space was something wonderful to Natsumi. It almost exuded the aura of interest, and aura of hard work.

Aizawa-san met her as she was about to ascend the elevator up to the investigation rooms. "Aizawa-san!' she said warmly. The man was like a mentor, the gruff forensics analyst always had wise words to impress upon her when she came to the station. To her surprise, Matsuda-san was also there. Matsuda was a funny person to talk to at the police new-years parties, but she'd been under the impression that the two officers didn't get along very well.

"Kitamura-chan." said Aizawa, "How are you?"

"Well, thank you. I'm here for the samples that you wanted cross-referenced." she said with a smile.

Aizawa-san handed them over and Natsumi quickly scanned over the packets. There were fabrics samples and skin cells. There were a couple filled with a touch of mud and some outdoor fibres. the thing that puzzled her most was the little tub of blood. "Blood? Doesn't that go to the hospital usually?" she asked as she tucked it away inside her bag.

"This is a special case." said Aizawa sternly, in a tone than brooked no argument.

Natsumi shrugged. "Oh, and do you know whom I should find if I wish to give something to the Kira investigative team?"

Matsuda brightened. "That'd be me. What do you need me for?"

Natsumi grabbed the brown envelope and handed it to Matsuda. "Here,"she said, "Give this to L or Watari or whatever, and tell him he's a pervert from me, okay?"

With that she walked out of the police department, relishing the expressions of shock from the two officers as she walked out of the building.

(X)

"And then the calcium ions travel through the lipid bilayer in which form of transport?" asked Natsumi as she gave Sayu Yagami a long stare.

"Umm... osmosis?" asked Sayu and Natsumi muffled an exclamation of horror. It was not this difficult to understand these concepts.

"Oh come on Sayu-chan, you know this! Osmosis is how water is transported. Try again!" Natsumi feeling a little frustrated. She'd told Sayu the answer not five minutes ago.

"Umm...It's not simple or facilitated...not endocytosis...therefore excoytosis?" Sayu asked and Natsumi nearly died of horror.

"No... no, it's really not." Natsumi whispers and Sayu throws her head on the table.

"This is hopeless Natsumi-san, I just don't get it!" Sayu wails, looking annoyed. "I'm certain that I'm going to fail my exams!"

Natsumi taps her fingers against the table. "Don't be ridiculous, Sayu, you just need to listen to me. You were thinking about some pop icon instead of paying attention to what I was saying."

Sayu sighed and stared at the picture of some supposedly attractive, half-naked model picture on the wall. A new affliction upon Sayu's already decorated room. "But Ryuuga Hideki is so attractive!"

Natsumi rolls her eyes. "Please Sayu, try and concentrate. The statistics of him ever noticed you when you fail Junior High, are next to none. Not to mention, he's around 10 years older than you and very, very rich."

Sayu pouts but turns around. "So how are calcium ions transported?" she asks, as she twirls an escaped strand of hair around her finger.

"Active Transport through protein pumps, with the help of..." Natsumi prompted Sayu and Sayu threw her a blank look.

"Some kind of protein, right? No, some chemically thing...begins with an A...right?"

Natsumi shook her head. "ATPs, Sayu, ATPs." The young girl looked desolate.

"I just don't understand it, Natsumi. Why is it so difficult?" she asked, looking annoyed.

"You're good at memorising English though, why not this?" asked Natsumi as she grabbed her own English Grammar book.

Sayu shrugged and started quoting Shakespeare. "_Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date_. That's easy. Shakespeare's sonnets are easy. I just don't understand sciencey and math stuff. It's all so boring!"

Natsumi sighed. "You don't have to like it Sayu, you just have to be able to do it. I dislike Math, yet, it's a part of our daily lives and I know it."

Sayu sighed. "I know, I know. Onii-chan is always saying the same thing."

Natsumi grinned as she heard Sachiko-san's cry for dinner. "Maybe you should listen to him. He's pretty clever , after all. Now, let's take a quick break to sample more of your mother's lovely cooking."

Sayu grinned. "Yeah, and we can watch Ryuuga Hideki on his soap opera!"

Natsumi suppressed a groan. "Hold on," she said as her phone started to buzz, "I'll be right with you."

"Sure!" chirped Sayu, "I'll show you Ryuuga-san's channel! Then you'll see why I love him so!"

Natsumi shook her head in amusement and grabbed the phone. "Hello, this is Kitamira Natsumi speaking. Who is this?"

"It's Matsuda-san. From the station. L asks that you keep the information that you discovered this afternoon, from your family." comes a cheerful bubbly voice from the phone.

"Yes, but it's illegal." Natsumi says calmly. "Why should I hide the fact that L is doing illegal things?"

There's a pause on the phone, and Matsuda sounds very earnest as he speaks. "Kira is on the loose. Over 50 criminals die every week. This action is necessary to capture him or her. The fact remains that we could all lose our jobs and our reputations if this gets out. We would all prefer that to not happen. It will only be there for a week, or, at least, until L's suspicion on the matter has vanished. And..." here there was a pause, as if he were confirming something with someone. "The tapes will be deleted after the week, if the household is cleared as Innocent. That's the police promise to you."

Natsumi flicks the end of her braid, frowning at the wall. "Fine, but if the cameras persist after a week long, I will tell my father everything."

The phone clicked off abruptly, as if it had been ended by someone else. L most likely, Matsuda didn't seem the type to end without some kind of cheerful goodbye.

Natsumi placed her phone back in her bag and frowned as she saw a glint of light in the corner. That was odd. Natsumi wandered towards it and nearly growled as she peeked into the small slit in the bookcase , revealing another camera. L was surveying the Yagami household too? How strange. Was he looking at the families of all of the police officers then?

That can't have been right. There were too many families for L to undergo a proper watch on all of the houses. At least, not the kind of detailed watch where he would have been able to notice the fact that she'd been directly addressing a camera. No, there was either a more specialised reason than just the police connection. Natsumi just had to be able to figure it out.

"Pervert." she says to the camera, before walking down to sample Sachiko-san's delicious food.

(X)

A new school term. As Natsumi felt sakura blossoms stick in her neat hair, she smiled a little. She hadn't failed all of her exams. She'd aced the Science exams, and while her English exams hadn't been perfect, they hadn't been awful either. And, as per Matsuda-san's promise, the cameras had been removed in four days and Natsumi hadn't heard from L since. Not, that she'd expected to.

It was part of To-Oh tradition, you always came to see the new freshmen graduates when they first entered the university, and you always went to see the senior graduates leave. Of course, that wasn't the only reason that Natsumi was sitting here in the auditorium. Sachiko-san and Sayu-chan had asked her to record Light-kun's speech as freshman valedictorian, as they couldn't come along that day.

Natsumi had been happy to do so, but had been interested by the fact that there were two valedictorians this year. She could almost see the pout on Sayu's face as she watched the video that Natsumi was filming. The pride for each other within the Yagami family was the kind of ideal pride, that Natsumi could only wish would happen inside her own family.

She could hear all the gossiping around her about the strange occurrence, but Natsumi really didn't care. There were clever people in the world, this she knew. The more the better, that would ensure that the world didn't fall into stagnation. Even if they were a little odd. And didn't wear shoes. That was just strange.

The ceremony finally finished and Natsumi walked out. Yagami-kun was walking along with the other valedictorian. Natsumi grinned and walked up to Light.

"Hey Yagami-kun! Congratulations on getting into To-Oh! Your speech was interesting, that was a change from most of them." Natsumi said.

"Oh?" Light asked, looking interested, "Are most of them boring?"

Natsumi nodded. "Same things, over and over, usually. My speech when I was valedictorian was probably pretty dull too. It was a refreshing topic though, talking about how our backgrounds influence the ideas and morals we bring into To-Oh. As was yours...Ryuuga-san?" she asks, of the strange black-haired boy.

The boy nods. "That's right. I'm glad that it wasn't too dull. Might I ask your name?"

Natsumi smiled. "Natsumi-san should be fine." she says, "Well, I've got to head off, Light. Tell Sayu-chan to actually read her science book in High School, okay? I'll see you on campus sometime!"

"Goodbye, Kitamura-san." says Light, but there's something tense behind the smile, and she wonders whether Light too, is annoyed that his spotlight has been stolen by the boy with the dark, black eyes and hair, that seems very, very creepy.

There's a chill down Natsumi's back as she leaves, the same chill when she'd discovered the cameras in her house. Natsumi doesn't ignore her gut feelings. This person is connected to L in some way. It was just figuring out how and why.


	2. An Unusual Meeting

**An Unusual Meeting**

**Summary: So this is in honour of L's birthday on Samhain! L meets Teru Mikami as a child and has an illuminating perspective of the world from the eyes of an opinionated child. (Ages are slightly altered; in canon, there's a three year difference between them. Now, there's only a year's difference. ) **

L placed a thumb to his mouth as he tucked his schedule into the pockets of his jeans, staring out of the window in pensive silence.

L was fluent in 10 languages and knew the basics in another 27, yet Watari was still convinced that L wouldn't be able to connect with other cultures well enough. L had been outrightly offended by this implication, and as they had been currently stationed in Japan for a case, had attempted to ask a woman on the street for directions to the Police Station in fluent Japanese. Before he had even been able to open his mouth, he had been greeted with the uttering 'Ghost!', before the woman had turn tail and run away screaming.

Needless to say, Watari had been less than impressed. This was currently why L was enrolled in a Japanese middle school as a week's exchange student from America, under the alias, Justin Gunner. That had however, required L to not appear like the Japanese idea of a dead spirit, which had meant the addition of a uniform to his demeanour. L had not been in the slightest, impressed by the stiff, starched shirt, tie and trousers, but the school had insisted, so L, with the help of some loopholes, had compromised.

He currently wore the trousers and a looser, less constricting version of the shirt, conspicuously lacking the tie. L had refused to wear a potential murder weapon around his neck. He knew human brutality, and just because they were children, it didn't mean that the murder potential decreased. If anything, young children whom hadn't been ingrained in the norms of modern culture would be more likely to attempt brutal murder.

Leave alone the fact that he himself would be classed a child in the eyes of a law.

He may have been physically aged nine, but L felt far older and far more experienced. When your own mother had been the world's most creative serial killer, and you had brought her to her own death, it was hard to remain childlike. The naïveté involved was simply impossible to achieve once you had witnessed the evils of the world.

It was this series of events that led L to be currently sitting inside the classroom for his first lesson, waiting for the last of the students to trickle inside. This was, of course, a purely social visit. L had learnt all of the topics currently being covered a long time ago. The bell finally rang and the teacher smiled at him from where he was currently seated next to the window, to allow him to be able to easily tune out what she was saying and focus on the case that he'd just closed.

"Now class," she said, her face not breaking from the smile, much to L's bemusement, "This is a visiting student, Justin Gunner, all the way from America. He'll be here for this week, so I hope that you'll welcome him warmly! Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself, Justin-san?"

L stood up, feeling a little annoyed. "My name is Justin Gunner. I live in San Francisco and I'm here for a week, to learn about the cultural difference between Japanese traditions and American culture. I look forward to discussing ideals and traditions with you all. Thank you." With this, he sat down again, avoiding eye contact with the fellow classmates.

The class burst into buzzing discussion and he could already hear their curious gossip-filled remarks about them. Some were filled with spite and envy. L tuned it out, as the teacher blathered on about getting out their exercise books, so they could go over the science they'd just learnt the day before. Apparently, they were only just learning about the laws of gravity. How pathetic. He'd learnt that when he'd been travelling with his mother.

Watari's advice however, filled his head. People were rarely born with the capability that L had, and neither had they received the unorthodox education that L had gained from his criminal mother. Sometimes he was filled with shame from his roots, yet other times they were valuable resources. He knew how criminals thought. He knew what their ambitions were more likely to be, because he'd known the worst one of them all.

He almost scoffed and blinked a little as the teacher asked him a question.

"Pardon me Fujiwara-senpai, I did not hear you. May you please repeat the question?" asked L as politely as he could.

"I was wondered whether you had covered this in America." She asked, though she looked a little annoyed.

"We have, Fujiwara-senpai." L said shortly. Oh, he most definitely had.

"Then can you tell the class what gravity is?" she asked, looking irked by his lack of propriety.

L sighed and tapped his fingers on the desk. "Gravity is a natural phenomenon in which objects with large mass in relation to human beings attract each other with forces proportional to their respective masses. Gravity is one of the most common forces in the universe, yet it is the weakest force of the four fundamental forces. It gives weight to objects and is the reason I am currently not floating at the moment. It also ensures that if I drop two objects with different masses," At this, L picked up his pencil-case and a pencil and dropped them to the floor, "That they'll fall at the same speed, despite the difference in mass. This is because gravity gives an object its weight, which is measured in Newtons. This is not the same as mass, which is weighed in kilograms or pounds."

The teacher looked quite shocked and the rest of the class merely stared at him blankly. The lesson continued and L was left quite alone, leaving him with his musings on how pointless this whole endeavour was. Really, he unnerved Japanese and Americans alike; shouldn't Watari just isolate him and leave him? L would have preferred to stay that way.

(X)

The lessons ended and the students trickled out in anticipation for their lunch hour. Somewhere along the way, they had switched to learning English. To L's gratitude, despite the many other children being called to haltingly read the English lines and sentences, L had not been called upon. Probably, Fujiwara-san had thought that the students were self-conscious enough, without a perfectly fluent English speaker amongst them.

L rose from his desk, slung his bag over his back, and went outside, to eat his cheesecake lunch. Not being able to eat whenever he was hungry was an annoying thing about school, but it was apparently a normal thing and one he'd have to get used. L was unhappy about it, but allowed it to happen anyway. As L was about to slink out the door, a group of five boys blocked his path.

"Hey you. American nerd. We don't like cocky foreigners." said the tallest boy, cracking his knuckles.

L sighed. The male assertion of dominance in the food chain was so very tiring. "I assure you, arrogance was not my intention. I merely wish to gain some knowledge in the duration of my stay here. If you could move out of my way, I would be happy to aid you in any manners of comprehension."

L of course, would not be happy to help, but he would do it, if he could escape the inevitable fight. He disliked fighting, because it would predictably end up with crumbled cheesecake in his bag, which L disliked.

"Not happening. How about your lunch money, then?" asked the kid to the right, with the glossy black hair.

L rolled his eyes. "I am currently devoid of any currency that would be useful to your purposes. They are still in dollars. And in any case, I have brought a lunch from home." He had around 5000 US dollars on him in many different types of currency, technically, but it was probably best to not mention that.

"Hey, leave him alone!" came a young voice from behind the boys. A young boy with glasses and long black hair scowled angrily at the two boys. He wore a badge that declared him to be a class representative of their class.

"Ahh, Mikami-kouhai! How many times have you stuck your nose into other's people's business where you aren't wanted? Your glasses have gotten broken three times this month already. Do you want it to be a fourth?" said the one with brown hair and a thick neck.

"I don't care! You leave people alone and maybe I'll stop giving you black eyes!" said the 'Mikami' boy.

"Haha, such a stupid fellow!" said the one with black, glossy hair. "Isn't your mother already dirt poor? Don't want to have to force her to fork out more money on your stupid fights. Stay out of it, Mikami-me!"

The Mikami boy seemed ready to punch them when L calmly pushed through them and made his way out to the door. They really weren't that strong, and the Mikami boy was a nice distraction.

"Hey you!" yelled the tall boy. L ignored him, really, why would he acknowledge him if he had the choice?

L felt a phantom menace brush him and whipped around to see the boy looking like he was about the punch him. L lifted his leg, blocked the manoeuvre and hit the boy in the stomach. The boy flinched and fell to the ground in tears. He knew that Watari would probably get angry at this, but if they were going to attack him, L was going to hit back and do it mercilessly. Preferably before they hurt him. It was the same technique he took in crime-fighting and it was one that worked.

L coolly glanced at the others who stood around looking in shock. He took off again, skulking through the corridors. After a moment there was a patter of footsteps behind him, but as there was no motion to hurt him, L ignored it.

"Gunner-san?" asked a voice and L turned around. The younger boy, Mikami-kun, was looking at him with rapt adoration. L felt a little uncomfortable, no one had ever looked at him like that.

"Yes, Mikami-kun?" L asked and the boy practically beamed.

"That was amazing. How did you manage to get them to all stand down?" the boy asked as he caught up to L.

"It's a simple psychological act. Those boys were used to being the most feared and therefore most powerful in the school. Animals do this as well, whomever has the most strength, has the most power. However, when confronted with a more powerful force, they withdraw temporarily. There is no doubt that they will attack again, but both sides will be more ready for a physical and mental altercation." Said L calmly and the boy seemed to slowly process this. He then drooped a little, his black hair falling in front of his face.

"Gunner-san," he said, quietly, "If what you said about being faced with a more powerful force is right, am I not powerful? I've stood up to them everyday and told them to not attack other people and I've even got teachers involved, but they never stop. It worked once in elementary school. I got the whole class to shun them and stand up to them. But, now…nothing seems to be working. They…they're winning. Evil's winning."

L frowned. It was obvious that telling him the truth; that he barely even registered on the threat scale, would devastate the boy, and that in itself was wrong. A boy with such a sense of natural justice should be cultivated, not destroyed. Would that the unworthy children that were his supposed successors had even an ounce of Mikami's sense of justice. Would that _he_ had even an ounce of the boy's justice.

"They view you as an obstacle to overcome, rather than a threat. Because of your persistence and minimal success against them, they will not see you as a threat." L said calmly, phrasing his words diplomatically. "If you were stronger or looked more intimidating, perhaps, you would scare them. But, as it is, your actions do not affect theirs."

The boy sighed and slumped. "Isn't persistence supposed to be good?"

L placed a hand on the boy's shoulder a little awkwardly. "Yes, in theory. But if your persistence brings out results, then only should it be counted as a good thing. If it all it brings for you is sadness and poverty, then there is no point pursuing justice in such a futile manner. Wait patiently. What do you want to be when you're older?"

Mikami looked like he was processing the words then smiled a little sadly. "I want to be a prosecution lawyer. But law school's really expensive and taking the bar test is even more so. No, I wouldn't want to inconvenience my mother more than I already am by existing. She'll probably want me to go onto being something that gets good money, but not many years at a good university, because university is expensive too."

L frowned. Money had never been a problem for him, and it was strange to think that someone else would limit themselves from achieving their potential because of it. And the kid was definitely smart.

"Money shouldn't be a limiting factor. You've heard of scholarships, haven't you? If you work hard enough, people will be walking all over themselves to give you a scholarship to their university. And anyway, our ambition is perfect. As an adult, you can bring justice to the true evil that is out there. The bullies here aren't evil. They're merely stupid and take pleasure in seeing weaker people than them submit to them. Evil are the murderers out there who think that terrorising the world is a good idea and enjoy it." L said, a picture of his mother and the many, many other criminals out there, popping up in his mind.

But at this, Mikami frowned. "Yes but. The people here, when left unchecked, and unaware that their actions are wrong, will go out into the world and they'll become those murderers and the filth in this world. They'll think that this is the right behaviour and a proper lifestyle to live, to see weak people cower beneath them. And then, once they're unsatisfied with simply hitting them; they'll kill them or join a gang or do, horrible violence to them. There's a saying, evil prospers when good men sit back and do nothing. I can't sit back and do nothing."

L smiled, he'd never had someone argue with him before. This was different. "Oh really? So getting your glasses smashed and your face beaten and cut, is a way of telling them that their actions are wrong? If anything, it looks almost like you're encouraging them to beat you up. That could be considered as deeming it an appropriate action to undertake."

Mikami frowned as they reached the bench outside. "Yes, well I never said that I was very successful in my actions."

L grabbed his food out of his bag and gleefully pounced upon his cheesecake. Mikami had daintily removed his sandwiches and proceeded to eat them in a neat and effective manner, throwing occasional horrified glances at L. After five minutes of this, L sighed and placed his spoon down.

"Tell me Mikami-kun. Am I doing something wrong? You have been throwing me the most aggrieved looks since we commenced our intake. Are you annoyed that I'm the only one eating cake? You can have some if you wish."

Mikami shook his head, looking a little bemused. "No, that's not it. It's just…you're very messy. In Japan, it's considered a little ….ummm, I'm not quite sure of the word….barbaric? Uncouth? Uncouth, on the person's behalf."

L frowned and dangled his spoon between his fingers as he stared at his cake. "This probably sounds like a strange question," he asked, "But how else do I eat it?"

Mikami looked like he was about to answer when his face lit up with a smug and elated smile. "I have a deal for you." said Mikami, "You came here to learn about Japanese culture? I know loads about that. So how about we trade? I'll teach you culture, and you teach me how to fight like you do, and how to make a difference for justice!"

L laughed. He really did belong at Wammy's House. He had a keen mind and a good quick grasp on vocabulary that should have been far beyond his mental capacities. If only he had been an orphan. "That sounds like a deal to me, Mikami-kun. Now, what am I doing wrong?"

(X)

L rolled out his shoulders, they had developed a lot of tension around there from standing straight when walking, instead of hunching over like he usually did. It was the morning of his second day at the Japanese middle school. It was early morning, long before the actual school would start of course, after all, lessons on fighting would hardly be greeted with great happiness by either the teachers or the students at the middle school.

L found himself mediating passively. Mikami had taught him a lot the day before, about what was polite in terms of table manners and L had been surprised at quite how deficient that he was in their eyes. Apparently his usual attire was also too dirty and casual to be seen as a proper person in society. Apparently, it was seen as impolite to dress badly when in the company of others, as it reflected badly on their hospitality. There were so many hidden rules inside the word polite, that even L, with his immense capacity for adaptation, found it a little overwhelming to change all of his habits instantly.

To his relief, Mikami arrived right on time. "Gunner-san!" he called happily, before pausing a little at L's casual appearance. "Uhh….Gunner-san…"

L nodded. "I am aware that isn't the correct uniform, nor is it even a particularly aesthetically pleasing. However, it is comfortable, which is required to learn how to fight, at least."

Mikami nodded earnestly. "So what do I do first?"

L smiled, such tempered enthusiasm was rare. "First, you anticipate your opponent's moves. I'm working on a small scope of time here, so I'm not going to give you the rubbish about breathing in and out or knowing yourself, because you already do. So now, you need to know your opponent. Most people give you clues about where they are going to move before they actually do."

Mikami frowned. "They do? I haven't noticed it."

L nodded. "I'm pretty sure that you have. Every punch, needs a force behind it, a force that cannot be gained by just flailing. When you punch, instinctively, you pull backwards to gain momentum. Your opponent will most certainly pull backwards, if only for a little while, and that will be your indication that they are about to strike."

Mikami frowned. "That's true, but can't they fake movement and you'll duck and they'll go in another direction?"

L nodded. "Yes, that's a possibility, but then you have to be able to react to them. So, I guess tip one, is to not let them out of your line of sight. You always need to be able to see them, or else they'll get the jump on you."

Mikami nodded. "Okay," he said, "That makes sense. But once I know when they're coming towards me, how I do I block them?"

L grinned. "This probably calls for a physical demonstration. Try and punch me. Aim somewhere not too painful if you please."

Mikami nodded and threw a swift punch towards L's stomach. L quickly spun around and let his rotating back take the full brunt of the force. L then moved his fist in until it was close to Mikami's face.

"See?" L said, and Mikami nodded. "You dissipate the force by redirecting it. The energy and force behind the punch is lost in the redirection, which leaves you free to do something. That something is up to you. I prefer to use my feet to kick someone, but you seem to favour using your fists. Though I wouldn't overly rely on one body part, else you become repetitive."

Mikami frowned. "Can I try?"

L nodded. "I'll be aiming for relatively tame areas of contact. For example," Here, L struck out with his foot and hit Mikami's thigh. Mikami staggered back and frowned. "See, that hurt, and was enough incentive to dodge or block the next one, but there's no permanent or visible damage."

Mikami nodded, looking determined. "Try me."

L didn't change his facial expression, but lashed out with his leg towards Mikami's stomach. L saw that Mikami recognised it was coming, but was too slow to block L's kick.

"Ow!"Mikami exclaimed.

L sighed, it was going to be a long morning…..

(X)

"Do I have to, Gunner-san?"

"Yes Mikami-kun. Now dodge or feel pain!"

(X)

"Gunner-san, why am I not getting any better?"

"You are getting better, Mikami-kun. Yesterday, you could barely block my kicks. Now you can. It's my punches that are throwing you off."

"Can't we watch you fail with using basic cutlery properly? I'd prefer that to this humiliation."

"….. I am sure that you would, Mikami-kun. However, as that experience will not be satisfying for me and I already have to muster up the effort of being polite for the rest of this week in school. Doing any more will rid me of my charms."

"What charms, Gunner-san?"

"…"

"Ow! There was no need for that! I wasn't ready!"

"You must always be ready for an opponent to attack, Mikami-kun. Even when you aren't expecting it."

"…right."

(X)

"Mikami-kun, you often talk about justice. But, what does it mean to you?" L asked, as he rapped his fingers on the desk.

Mikami frowned. "It's difficult to say. I…wouldn't be able to explain it very well."

L smiled vaguely, at least he was cautious about this. After all, defining Justice would be something quite difficult and something L thought was impossible 'Then let me ask you a different question. What is your definition of evil?"

At this, Mikami perked up. Interesting. He had a more solid opinion one what was evil than on what was justice. "Evil are the murders and the filth in this world. Evil are the robbers and the muggers and the awful. Evil are those indifferent to the suffering around them, so self-centred and self-absorbed in their own problems! Evil are the lazy and uncommitted, who could do something to change, but won't! Evil are the corrupt and the dull who control the whole country, who can't pave way for change."

L couldn't stop the laughter at this. Mikami frowned angrily. "You aren't very kind, Gunner-san. Laughing at someone is not polite."

L sobered. "You're right. I am sorry. However, you are aware that you just condemned over 90% of the world?"

Mikami glowered. "Then 90% of the world is evil. Simple."

This time, L managed to school his face into a polite sternness instead of laughing again. Obstinate too, how perfect he would have been as a successor. "A simplistic view on the world, Mikami-san. One that seems very stubborn too. How about we make a deal? If I can change one of your ideas about evil by the end of the day, you'll stop taking away my sugar cubes when I try to eat them?"

Mikami frowned then nodded. "However, you eat sugar cubes whole and in an impolite fashion. If I lose, you will eat those sugar cubes politely and in singular fashion."

L grinned. "Agreed. Now, onto your first accusation. Would you think it was evil if a person killed someone else if they thought that other person was about to set off a bomb that would blow up the entire Kanto region?"

"Yes," Mikami said, without a blip, "A moral person would call the police who have the authority to arrest that man."

"But if it was a split second decision. The man was about to detonate the bomb in a few minutes, and you had a gun, wouldn't you kill the man?" L said, biting his thumb and looking at Mikami intently.

"Well then," Mikami said, "In that case, I would probably do it. However, in that case, it would not be murder, but self-defence, especially, if I was still in Kanto. And it's an extreme example, Gunner-san and one that's very unlikely."

L smirked. "Okay, what if the murderer killed someone whom they thought would be better off without in the world? Another criminal or a paedophile?"

Mikami shook his head. "That's inexcusable. Again, they call the police to arrest these people."

L grinned and leant forward. "Okay then, say that you were a judge in the court. A criminal has been brought to the court, with such inexcusable actions to society that he has been sentenced to the death penalty. Is that murder evil, or is it a blessing?"

Mikami frowned and drummed on the table with his fingers absently. "I suppose it would depend." He said, "If the judge made the decision alone, and he forced the court's hand, then yes. It would be evil and a murder. However, if several people from different backgrounds all agreed that the death penalty was appropriate, then no, it would be a blessing. However, it also depends on what crimes the man has committed. If the man had committed several murders of his own, I suppose it could be considered tit-for-tat. If you're satisfied by that kind of thing. If he had not committed something quite as serious, then... it's probably a murder."

L smiles, that was refreshingly well thought out and something that even L needed to take a few minutes to gather his wits and reformulate a new solution.

"Okay, I think murder is a difficult thing to argue as not evil. However, condemning robbers are evil is a little overboard. Most robbers need the money desperately or are coerced or forced into doing it for another gang. You will find, that once caught, they will most certainly repent and they can change to become model citizens of the society."

Mikami shook his head, his expression bitter. "Citizens of society, yes. Model citizens? Never. Once someone has tasted that power beyond the rules that society puts into place, they cannot go back to being normal again. It's part of criminal psychology, right?"

"True, true. But say that there was a child, starving and begging on the streets, yet no one has been kind enough to give her food. She then goes onto rob somebody, simply because she has no other choice than but to survive. Is that so wrong?" L asks, knowing that this is usually where people fall.

"True, what the girl did was necessary for survival, but there is still evil in that equation and that is the indifference of the people to the suffering around them. If even one person had looked away from their own problems long enough, she would have been able to carry on. Instead, they wrote her off or expected someone else to do something. That is the evil in the world." Mikami said fervently and L raised his eyebrows. He'd acceded on that point, but was arguing one of the more pointless points? How strange.

"If you say it like that, then you condemn the very point of life. If you cared about everybody in the world, there would be no happiness for you, because you could never be happy until the whole world is happy, which will, never happen." L said and Mikami's face crumpled.

"How can you say that, Gunner-san?" he asked and L sighed.

"Mikami-kun, the statistical probability of everyone in the world being happy at exactly the same time, is a 0.000001% chance and that's only for one instant. Everyone is statistically sad fifty times for every happy moment."

Mikami sighed and rapped his fingers on the table. "You have a point, Gunner-san. But that won't be able to make me stop hoping that for just a moment, your statistics will stop working and everyone will be happy. That there is some god out there who wants people to be happy."

"God, Mikami-kun?" asked L, leaning forward and Mikami's nose scrunched up.

"There is no god. At least none of the ones that my mother worships anyway. And even if there is, he's a cruel one. A kind god would answer the prayers of those who want stuff. Anyway how does it matter to you? Faith is against your petty statistics, isn't it?"

L shook his head. "Faith is one of the major driving factors in a human being. To truly understand a human, you must incorporate faith in. Not necessarily faith in god, but maybe the faith in humanity that you possess. Or faith in a lover. Something like that. Faith's important to a human life, you can't just discard it. But, I admit, that it does affect statistics adversely."

Mikami nodded. "I see now. But, I still think that the indifference that affected your hypothetical robber was evil."

L frowned. "I wouldn't say that those people were evil forever, per say. Merely that they were indifferent in that moment. Take for example, an important scientists rushed by the girl without a second glance. This could be because he was evil and indifferent or that he had just discovered the cure for cancer and was rushing to go and present it to scientists at a hospital. Who knows? You can't just condemn all of them who stood by. Everyone has a little bit of good and evil in them. However, in one aspect, Mikami-kun, you are right. In most humans, there is more darkness than goodness."

Mikami laughed, a grating sound. "And what a bitter victory, Gunner-san." There was a comfortable silence between them, when all that could be heard was the sound of the wind whipping and the distant sounds of laughter. "…Convince me that I'm wrong, Gunner-san. Please." He whispers after what seems like an eternity.

"Well, you are wrong on one thing, Mikami-kun." L obliged. "Lazy and uncommitted people are not evil. Would you say that I am evil, Mikami-kun?"

Mikami shook his head. "Of course not!" he exclaimed. 'You're good. Not innocent, mind, but good. You want things to be right, just like me. Even if we have different definitions of what's good and what's not."

L smirked. "Yet, I have the resources and the time to go on and do something for the world. I could graduate high school and college now and go on and do something great. Yet I'm lazy. I'm still in school. Would you say that I am evil now, Mikami-kun?"

Mikami opened his mouth as if he were about to say something then shut his mouth again . There were a few moments of Mikami imitating a goldfish before Mikami laughed genuinely. "You were holding back on me in the arguments, weren't you?" he asked, as he leans back in his chair, shaking out his long black hair behind him.

L smirked and bites his thumb. "I've never had an opponent whose opinions have been quite fixed. It was interesting. I wanted to understand your viewpoint, before I demolished it."

Mikami shook his head. "Heart-warming as this all was, I still believe that society in itself is flawed."

L nodded. "True, but have you got any better suggestions?"

Mikami paused and frowned pensively. L got up from the table and swung his bag over his shoulder. "Come on, we'll be late to class."

(X)

"Gunner-san, Kagome-chan fancies you."

"…Is that normal behaviour for Japanese eight year olds?"

"Yes. It's normal behaviour for most humans."

"I do not appreciate the implications hidden in there, Mikami-kun."

"I know that you don't. It won't stop me making them."

"I am aware that you were more polite to me three days ago."

"This is called being friends with someone, Gunner-san. The more familiar one is with another, the more personalised the helpful comments become."

"…Implying that I am not human is not a helpful comment, Mikami-kun."

"It is, too! I'm implying that you should get a heart. Or preferably a brain that's actually wired to normal people..."

"…"

"Ow! You're very violent, Gunner-san! Are all Americans like this?"

"Constant Vigilence, Mikami-kun. What will happen if the bullies got a surprise start on you, hmm?"

"…You just wanted to hit me for making that comment."

"…That too."

"Get a heart, Gunner-san."

(X)

"Mikami-kun? May I ask a personal question?"

"Yes. If you must, Gunner-san."

"Why does everyone refer to you as dirt-poor?"

"It's because I'm dirt-poor, stupid. Okaa-san is all alone. Oyaji left when I was little and she had to support both of us all by herself, She has two jobs, but a good school is expensive and my glasses are expensive too. So we barely make ends meet. I told you before, remember?"

"I remember, Mikami-kun. Is she by any chance, adverse to charity?"

"…What are you planning Gunner-san?"

"Nothing, nothing."

(X)

"Gunner-san, I wouldn't call giving my mother the equivalent of a year's pay in one go, charity. I'd call that wanting a favour." Mikami said fiercely, as L stacked a pile of sugar cubes that he'd taken from the cafeteria on the table he was currently sitting on.

"It was repaying a favour. You have aided my quest for knowledge here, immensely. You have also, according to my guardian, taught me basic manners, which he had apparently thought would be impossible to drill into my brain. These are invaluable gifts." L said calmly, as he took the first cube of sugar and nibbled at it.

"But, you can't just throw around money like that!" said Mikami looking panicked.

"Please do not protest Mikami-kun. I am a very rich person. And you need that money I lot more than I do. Use it on your university fund. Or on a new pair of glasses. Or something interesting. Once you run out, all you need do is contact me. I shall be more than happy to provide." L said boredly. The topic of money bored him. He understood why money was necessary, of course, but it was dull, and boring and predictable. L liked challenges and challenges were in people and criminals, not money.

Mikami frowns. "It's weird," he says after a while of the two sitting companionably in silence. "There's never been a moment in my life when I haven't been concerned with either justice or money. Knowing that I can forget one and be able to fully focus on the other…. Thank you. Thank you, Gunner-sama. Thank you for giving me the means to reach the true justice."

L frowns as he polishes off the last of the sugar cubes. "I'm not sama. I'm just a friend. You can call me Gunner-kun if you wish. But I'm not your lord and you don't owe me anything."

Mikami laughs. "I owe you everything. You taught me how to defend myself. You taught me how to stay back and wait until I know that my efforts won't be futile. You taught me about other things as well. About the nature of justice and now this? Giving me the means to reach where I can achieve my full potential? You've given me everything. How could I not call you sama?"

"You could say kun instead?" L suggested. "Frankly, the idea of being worshipped as a lord, while a great booster to my ego, makes my skin crawl once I consider the implications. I'm no lord or some god. I'm just someone trying to keep our world healthy, Mikami -kun."

Mikami smiled. "I won't call you sama, if it really makes you uncomfortable. But, you're powerful and modest. You really are quite weird."

L laughed. "Modest, Mikami-kun? I don't think that descriptor suits at all. I am childish and I hate to lose. Nowhere in there is modest."

Mikami smiled. "Yes, but you are a child. Therefore, childish is a criterion that is required, Gunner-kun."

L smiled, unable to help himself. The boy was really quite amusing. "Mikami-kun, your vocabulary has drastically improved since our first meeting. In merely a week, you sound more educated already."

Mikami grinned. "I am more educated. You've taught me so much! And I hope you remember later on, after you leave, to sit up straight!" Mikami poked L in the side sharply, causing him to jump a little.

"Mikami-kun!" L growls and Mikami laughs delightedly, before slumping a little.

"I'll miss you, Gunner-san. I've never had a friend before. Now, you're going away." He said, his voice quiet.

L sighs, he almost wishes that he could stay here. Well no, he doesn't, really. He loathes the school and the mind-numbingly simple lessons. Instead, he wishes that Mikami was an orphan and that L could bring him to the investigation headquarters, or Wammy's at least. Instead his parent shackles him to Japan and this boring school.

"I think I may even miss your passing as well. I'm not sure. I haven't had a friend either, Teru-kun." L says quite calmly.

Mikami's eyes brighten. "Really G—Justin-kun?"

L nods. "Really."

There was a pause and L sighed. "I believe that this is goodbye. My guardian will be picking me up from outside the school now. My plane leaves in around two hours. Farewell, Teru-kun. I hope that you are able to find justice in your life." L stood up and stood tall.

Mikami held out his hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Justin-kun! I hope that your life is full of happiness!"

L took the hand and shook it, before walking away from the school, not looking back once.

(X)

L spun around in his chair as the information from the Japanese yakuza drug case was sent to the NPA. The vital information had come from a particularly talented analyst in the force, named Soichiro Yagami, L believed. That had been nearly tantamount to the solving of the case. L would have to thank him. Maybe a gift for his wife? From the files, it informed that they had recently had a daughter. Maybe a present?

L shook his head; that was best left to Watari. Quillsh Wammy was much better at the personal touches than L ever would be. The Japanese news filtered through L's perception and L sighed and made to turn it off. Best not to waste electricity, as the prices slowly increased. Not that L would ever need to worry about money, but Wammy's orphanage needed an extraordinary amount of money to upkeep, and it was best to save up his pennies so he can keep his 'successors' well supplied and still be able to splurge on his cases when needed to.

Ttch, successors. As if anyone could ever match up to his talents. It insulted and irked L that the whole place even existed. Then Watari expected him to be happy about it and go and take interest in the students? He'd done just that six months ago, and look what that had led to. Two of his potential successors gone. Now, better security indicators were in place and there were therapists and all that nonsense and L knew now, that staying out of the business of the orphanage was the best thing he could do in the circumstances. Of course, that this course of action was pleasant to L was just a coincidence, even if Watari shot him worried glances every now and then. Interacting with people was so very tiring.

L turned towards the TV and froze as the name 'Mikami' and car accident filtered through. L froze. Surely not…there were several Mikamis in Japan….. A picture flashed up on the screen, and there was no doubt about the resemblance there. Achori Mikami looked just like her son, the same fly-away black hair and emblazoned brown eyes.

L sighs and marks it as a tragic accident and motions to turn off the news. Then he freezes as a particular string of information passes through his mind. _"Oyaji left when I was little…" _Mikami's voice says and L grins triumphantly. He'd hoped for this outcome, a year ago. And now…the perfect opportunity. Especially in the aftermath of A's horrific suicide and B's escape from the orphanage. Mikami would fit right in at Wammy's. And well, he would be an L about justice, not just for relieving boredom. L smiled a little, he did miss the bright child who hadn't been afraid to argue with him.

"Watari," L says, as he turns off the television and reaches for his laptop, "Get all of the information you can on a Mikami Teru. Japanese, 12 years old. I believe that he would do well with taking some advanced placement and aptitude tests…."

**AN: Enfin****! L and Teru Mikami meet and become friends. Hopefully I managed to capture L's inner voice without distorting him out of canon too much. Mikami is a little too naïve for the age I gave him, I think, but I like his characterization. And yeah, neither of the two have very stable opinions and arguments about justice. This is because they are two very fickle individuals and also because I believe that there is no one fixed concept of evil or justice. In fact, I do not even believe that evil exists.**

**No, not in that way, but in the way that cold doesn't exist. Cold is merely a value we assign to the lack of heat. So evil is a value we assign to the lack of ingrained societal values that most people seem to grasp. Anyway, I'd love some constructive criticism or even a fun discussion on the nature of philosophy. For the inspiration of this ficlet, go read Integrity and Cake, by Serria, a lovely oneshot that is so nicely written and argued. **


	3. The Terminal Occurence

**The Terminal Occurrence**

**Summary: After the death of Kira, the story ends...right? Not in Near's eyes. After all, there are a few loose ends to tie up on the supernatural front, that may involve Near being in more danger than ever. Can he rely on the finicky shinigami to help him or must he sacrifice everything to keep the world from falling into disorder again?**

**Near for me, has a stronger sense of justice than L did. So, he's more concerned with helping the world than overcoming his boredom. And, Near doesn't like to deal with more Kiras because he knows in the depths of his heart, that they'll be awful fakes, like C-Kira was in the extra chapter. So he takes a few…precautions before burning the notebooks. Light has got to be one of my favourite characters, so writing the aftermath…is difficult, especially from Near's perspective.**

Light Yagami is dead. Kira is dead. Mello is dead. L is dead. Over one million criminals are dead, and many more innocents are dead, because of this shinigami. One, bored shinigami. Near looks up at his seemingly innocent clown-face and nearly shudders. Nearly. Weakness that visible is beneath him.

"Shinigami." He calls out and the SPK members look up from where they are exiting the warehouse. The Japanese taskforce have already departed, taking Yagami and Mikami away. Now that the cameras they'd had installed to monitor the events are taken down, it is their turn to leave.

"Yes?" it asks, in its grating voice.

"The current owners of these two notebooks," Near asks, as he holds them up, "Mikami Teru and me, if I'm correct."

"That is correct." said the shinigami, its eyes lighting up. "Why? Planning on writing in it?"

Near's lip curls. "I think not. As I have not written down any names in the notebook, when I return ownership of my notebook to a shinigami, I will retain my memories, correct?"

The shinigami nodded again. "Yep." It says, drawing out the word, sounding for all that they knew, like a child. A child with the voice of a devil, of course. Near wonders whether Yagami taught it how to do that, for he doubts that it is a shinigami trait. "Got any apples?" it asks, a hungry look lighting up in its eyes.

Near frowns, because something has occurred to him and he needs to confirm his hypothesis and implement a plan if he is proved to be correct. "If I give you some apples, will you answer some questions about the notebook and about the shinigami realm?" he asks.

The shinigami grins maniacally, and Near sees Gevanni shiver momentarily, out of the corner of his eye. "If I'm allowed to disclose that information, yes."

"Hmm. Very well. Do shinigami have a system of government?" Near asks, twirling his hair around his fingers as he gets up from the floor, unsteady on his feet.

"Government? Nah. The old man's in change and none of us have got any say in that. Then ole Armonia Justin deals with all the questions from idiots like Sidoh and Nu's pretty powerful too. Keeps Kinddara in her place. If it weren't for Nu, I daresay there'd be a lot more scars on all of the Shinigami."

Near frowns as the shinigami grinned. Obviously the information onslaught was intentional on the shinigami's part. "So, this 'old man', is like your king? Then this Armonia Justin comes next in rank and then Nu?"

The shinigami looks amused. "That's about right. Dunno why you'd want to know that, though. They're all boring anyway."

Near taps his finger on his cheek, pensively. "So, does this king of yours leave the shinigami realm?"

"Nope," the shinigami says, looking oddly satisfied. "If the old man does, the whole realm collapses and he dies."

Near sat up a little at that. Interesting. "So the entire shinigami realm is based on the Shinigami King's survival…." He muses and he sees Lidner shoot him a sharp look. She is thinking of what Mello would have done, of course. While the idea of toppling the entire shinigami realm is tempting, the displacement of the shinigami would be detrimental to the Earth.

Near was L now, his responsibility was to protect the people of the Earth and keep himself suitably entertained. "Hmm, well then. Can humans enter the shinigami realm?"

At this, the shinigami frowns and scratches its head. "I'm…not sure. I don't know. It's never been done before."

Near sighs, it isn't very useful on the most important part. "How do shinigami get down from your realm to Earth?"

The shinigami lights up. "That I know!" it says, "There are these little portals that we fly into and they take you down to the human world."

Near frowns. Portals aren't very descriptive on the shinigami's behalf. There could be any amount of g-force, intrusive or harmful elements to humans or things that he was missing out on. But….Mello would have done it without thinking.

Near sighed and rolled his eyes. Look where not thinking had gotten Mello; dead and exploded for a second time. No, he would have to do this, but with some thought. "And it works the same way back up to the shinigami realm?"

Ryuk smiles chillingly. "That's right."

Near sighs, Another question to ask, popped up in his mind, and Near sometimes hated his mind for being able to see so many pathways, because every minute more that he talked with the shinigami felt like a betrayal to L and Mello and Mr. Wammy. "And how does time fly in the shinigami realm? Along the same way that Earth does or something different?"

The shinigami shrugged. "I've never had the reason to know. I go down to the human world when I want or when I'm summoned. What do I care for the passing of time? It's all the same to me."

Near blatantly frowned now, this shinigami really was useless. Well then, he wasn't going to be able to just up and leave then. Preparations would need to be made.

"Will you follow me if I leave, or will you follow Mikami?" Near asked as he staggered to his feet.

The shinigami smiled. "I can pick and choose. You still owe me some apples."

Near nodded, he would keep his promise, even if the shinigami had been singularly unhelpful. "Commander Rester," he says, "We should be heading back to investigation headquarters. Along the way, we shall stop at a grocery store."

Lidner throws him a slightly concerned look, Gevanni still looks creeped out, but Rester, the ever reliable, is impassive. "Of course, Near." He says and they walk away from the warehouse.

(X)

The moment they re-enter the investigation headquarters, Near goes to his room and searches for the envelopes. They're hiding underneath the several robots in the third drawers. He goes back to the main room where they all wait in silence, looking uncertain as to what they should be doing. Near hands them the envelopes that correspond to each of them and all of them look surprised as they open it.

"It's a recommendation letter to your next employers. I've heard that that kind of thing is necessary, yes?" Near says, boredly, as he stacks a couple of leftover die that still scatter the floor.

Lidner nods, but before she can say something, Near steams on. "I've also put your account details you'll need to access your salary for working on this job. You've all got individual new bank accounts to access the money. There should also be the available resources to be able to book plane tickets to wherever your respective homes are, using L's remaining money."

Rester lifts his hands. "This is all very well, Near, but what are you planning?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Gevanni says as he flicks through the letter that Near has written, as normally as he can manage without any outside help. "He's going somewhere with the shinigami."

Near nods. "Correct. There are some unfinished ends to wrap up on the supernatural spectrum of this case."

Lidner nods. "Then, do you want us to take care of the normal loose ends here?"

Near shakes his head. '"My associate, Mr. Ruvie will deal with all of that. I would ask that either you or Commander Rester would contact him once I have departed, to inform him of my extended absence and to command him to deal with the headquarters and the police. However, Lidner, I would ask that you deal with the social loose ends. Make sure the Japanese won't blab anything and make sure that Amane and Yagami's family are not told of his identity as Kira, merely that Kira is now dead."

"Are we informing the media?" asked Gevanni, as he neatly puts the information back inside the envelope.

Near pauses. "What do you think?" he asks.

"That's not a rhetorical question, is it?" says Gevanni, looking shocked.

Near frowned. "I am aware that my weaknesses are in understanding people. In a world where Kira is worshipped, what is the likely reaction of the media? Will they accept what we tell them, that Kira is anonymously dead, or will they look into it further and attempt to find out Kira's identity? Will they then vilify him or glorify him if they manage to find out his identity?"

The team looked pensive. Lidner spoke up. "From my approximation of things, especially after working at NHN, it is better to go with the direct approach. I would advise that you speak as L, tell the world that Kira is dead. There will be outrage and there will be anger towards the announcement, how could there not be? The world will fall apart for a while, and there will be a difficult transition sequence back to normality without the stabilizing presence of Kira's underlying threat to criminals and to the governments. But…I cannot see them looking into it too greatly, unless they are very vehement about his cause."

Rester frowned. "However, those kinds of people exist. The vehement, I mean. We must be prepared for the worst to happen, that the public may turn on L."

Near shook his head. "That will not happen. For one, they cannot turn on someone whom they cannot find. I will not be on this planet and you will be normal FBI members again. Or former criminal consultants, as the case may be," Near said, throwing Gevanni a significant look. "For another, they will be too afraid. Takada is dead, and so is Kira. Without a figurehead to guide them, the public will most definitely not be able to muster the force. If there is one thing I have learnt to rely on, it is the human inability to organize themselves without a leader."

Gevanni frowned. "Couldn't Amane possibly be a problem? She did used to be the second Kira. Couldn't they rally around her?"

Lidner shook her head. "That's severely unlikely. From what I've seen of her, around Takada anyway, any actions she made are impulsive and irrational. Anything clever she might have done, would be credited to Yagami."

Near pulled at a tendril of hair. "Not completely true. The debut of the second Kira showed some intelligence indeed, but yes, over the past four years, it has been severely suppressed underneath the model exterior. She will neither be a rallying point nor a musterer of the forces. Anyway, from what I have seen, her emotional reaction to Yagami's death will most likely overtake anything else in her priorities."

The shinigami nodded from where it was devouring apples at an unhealthy rate. "Misa was boring. I mean, she had some spunk, but she was weird and blind. She couldn't even see that Light was using her the whole way, even though she saw that he was using the others!"

Gevanni looked vaguely disgusted and Lidner visibly looked annoyed. "The more I hear about him, the more that Yagami sounds like a manipulative sociopath." She muttered crossly.

Near ignored the shinigami's comment. "I…must thank you for your help. It…was invaluable. Kira is gone for good, thanks to all of our efforts." It was difficult for Near to force it out, but he knew that it was something that Mr. Wammy often said that made the people he'd talked to, trust him and like him a bit better. And while the SPK weren't up to his standard in brain capacity, they were trusting and competent and had become a little bit like a family.

"It would have all been for nothing if we hadn't had you." Lidner says, smiling a little bit. Near wishes that she wasn't trying quite so hard to put him at ease; it's a little debilitating, especially when she looks like a female version of Mello. And Mello had never once been nice to him, so it's a stark contrast and one that Near dislikes.

"We could go on forever, giving credit to everyone who was involved in this operation. So we won't elaborate." Near said, curtly. Lidner looked a little annoyed at this abrupt cut-off.

"So now what?" asked Rester.

Near staggered to his feet again. "I will be taking my leave of you; I have some things to organize before I leave with the shinigami. I would suggest that you all get some rest; you will probably be heading back to your homes tomorrow. Lidner, I will be leaving the tape for the media on the desk, in an envelope. Be sure to not get your prints on the tape. Oh, and Gevanni? If you have time, could you make a call to the Japanese police and ask them to make sure the contents of Matt and Mello's flat are burnt?"

Near felt his knowledge- seeking side twinge a little bit. He'd used Matt's skills with technology to his advantage during his first years of investigation and he knew that the boy(man) had made advances in technology that wouldn't reach the world by any other route for another ten years, but it was best that the information that the two boys owned didn't get out to the rest of the world. If Near had not had the shinigami business to deal with, he would have gone and organized it himself, but as it was, this was rather more important.

Lidner looked a little shocked. "Burnt?" she asked, and Near was reminded that she and Mello had been close (though to what extent, he'd never know).

"If you wish, you can empty the flat of anything you want before it is burnt." Near said calmly, "But the information hidden there is classified and should not be released."

Lidner nodded, looking pale. With that, Near went back to his room to grab a camera and the appropriate recording software for his last bit of work on Earth for some time.

(X)

Near tiptoed into the main investigation area and placed the envelope with the video on the table. He wore a thin jacket over his pyjamas and frowned as he surveyed the contents of his rucksack. The shinigami had told him that the food of the shinigami world was inedible for humans, judging by the reaction that Amane had affected when she had tried to eat some, so Near had brought along a few sandwiches and a lot of water, in case he was there for a longer time than expected.

It felt a little strange, to know that he was leaving his world entirely, but…this needed to be done. He would not have a repeat of this four year fiasco. Not if he could help it. Near wasn't risking the chance that it fell into the hands of another Light Yagami, or even worse, a Kira fanatic's hands. Or even worse the media. Or even worse than that—Maybe it was better to not theorize as to whose hands it could fall into. Near would assure that it would never happen, even if it meant his own life in retribution.

On that note, Near grabbed another post-it note. He played with the pencil for a moment as he thought about his wording and wrote a little note to Rester.

_Tell Roger, that if I don't contact him in two months' time, he's to pick a new successor. I will have traded my life for a better cause. Thank you, once more, for all of your efforts. Near._

"Well then shinigami—"

"I have a name, y'know!" it said, crossing its arms over its chest. Near threw it a withering look.

"Well then, _Ryuk_, take me to the shinigami realm."

"Commanding kid, aren't you? I could see why Light always got annoyed when talking to you." It said conversationally, as Near grabbed onto its hand.

"That would have been because I was cleverer than he was." Near said shortly and the shinigami laughed

"Cocky too. You're almost as entertaining as Light was." It said, as it became incorporeal. To Near's surprise, he started to become incorporeal too. It was an odd sensation, to be able to see through your own hand, and one that Near did not relish.

"I would appreciate that you wouldn't compare me to a mass-murderer. I like to think myself as above that." Near said, as they went through the wall. It was a strange experience, but not necessarily unpleasant. Like a light tickling sensation. Near of course, only knew this because of a particular vicious game of Hack ACME and Concord's particular revenge for sabotaging her team…that had been a traumatic memory.

"Only think though?" asked the shinigami, unusually perceptive, for the guise that he had been wearing. Presumably, it had picked up a few things from Yagami or had been hiding its real wisdom.

"Every human has the capacity to murder. There is a dark side to every human being; a particularly riveting novel called Lord of the Flies shows this in stark light. As does the Stanford Prison Experiment. I have no doubts about my own ability to be dark. I know that it is more than possible and is likely to occur over my tenure as L. However, I am not like Yagami, because if I do it, I will feel guilt for my actions, and I shall make to attempt to justify it. That is what L is, what L does. L may lie to others, but L does not lie to himself." Near said, as the world beneath them faded away.

The lights underneath him were really quite riveting. He hadn't imagined that such beauty could be created by the kind of damage that humans could cause. Really, quite something to behold. The air was starting to get thinner and Near could feel his head started to get light-headed.

"How much higher must we go?" Near said, using as little oxygen as he could.

"Some more. It's more difficult to get back to the shinigami world when the person who has your book is on the human world. However I've never been in this situation before. Two owners and one wants to go to the shinigami realm." said the shinigami, and he sounded almost reverent. Near rolls his eyes and suppresses the shudder of disgust. The last thing he needs is a shinigami that admires his actions.

(X)

Near frowns as the air suddenly changes around them. Near can now breathe without seeing black spots around his vision, and while he is grateful for that, the feeling of oppression and boredom pressing down on his shoulders now, is most uncomfortable. Ryuk drops him on the sandy ground, unceremoniously and Near coughs as a cloud of sand engulfs him.

"Boring, huh?" said Ryuk, looking instantly annoyed. Near merely hacked in response as the last of the sand clears from his throat and eyes. There was a reason that Near despised going outside and this was it.

"Perhaps. The hopelessness is certainly quite off-putting. I can see why you dislike it so." Said Near standing up finally. "Where do I go to see the shinigami king?"

"There." Ryuk points off, vaguely, into the distance. There is nothing but a few bumps in the ground for miles.

Near throws him a glare. "You aren't very competent, are you?" Near asks.

Ryuk fakes being insulted with gestures and all. Definitely learned that from Yagami or Amane. Near merely shuffles off in the opposite direction than the one that Ryuk indicated, with a muttered annoyance. Being angry was much more in Mello's forte, but Near wasn't lacking emotions. Merely, it was that he hid them behind a veneer of serene silence. L only knew, the world needed more silence in its bustling state.

Not this one though. This world's silence was repressing in its weight. Never had silence had seemed so out of his control, so unwelcome. For some reason, Ryuk was completely silent as he floated alongside Near. This was odd. From what he knew of the shinigami so far, it didn't stop talking.

"What are you doing, Ryuk?" came a voice from behind him and Near whirled around. Another shinigami with a large feathery headdress and tough purple-matted muscle for skin is lurching over Near. This shinigami also has a hook for a hand. From the sound of the voice, he seems male and he seems fairly curious by Near's appearance.

"I'm escorting Near here to the shinigami king." said Ryuk looking amused.

The shinigami frowns. "But his name isn't Near. And why would a human be here?"

"I am here because I wished to be." Near says quietly, but firmly. "And Ryuk is not much help on the subject of where I might find the shinigami king. Might you be able to help, shinigami?"

"My name is Zellogi…Nate River. And I cannot help you. You can't find the shinigami king. The shinigami king finds you." The shinigami says, shrugging its shoulders helplessly. "But, you can ask Justin. He'll probably know, he knows everything."

Near smiles, this is slightly more useful information than a direction. It would be best to ignore the fact that the shinigami knew his real name; every shinigami had those eyes and it had been stupid of Near to forget. "And where would I find Justin?"

Zellogi peers down at him. "I'll tell you if you can give me some of your hair. It looks fuzzy. It'll be a nice addition to my headdress."

Perhaps it is vanity, but Near's hand goes to his hair automatically. He is slightly disturbed by the idea that a shinigami wants a piece of his hair. Almost immediately, he wonders what a shinigami would do with it, and what harm can be perpetrated to his person by hair, but the only myth that comes to mind is the one of voodoo dolls, and as he has not seen any voodoo dolls on the shinigami's person, Near sighs and relents.

"And you won't tell me, will you, Ryuk?" Near asks, an almost desperate tone to his voice, and Ryuk laughs, while shaking his head.

Near frowns and removes his backpack. There are scissors hidden the second compartment, and Near carefully snips a large section of his hair from the side of his head. He then hands it to Zellogi, who tucks it in his belt.

"Keep walking in your direction until you reach the large red rocks. There, you climb up the mountain. On the top, is Justin's throne. He'll help you, but he'll probably want something in return. He really only likes shinigami. I don't know whether he looks favourably on humans. Most shinigami don't, especially since we can kill you very easily. Though…currently, you don't have a lifespan." Zellogi blabbers. Usually, Near would be irked by the excess chatter, but Ryuk's lack of forthrightness of information has been quite irritating and finally getting some information about the shinigami and how they think is very useful.

And that last bit of information was…very, very useful indeed. If, a tad disturbing, because if Near is correct…

"Ah, I see. That would mean that anyone who enters this realm is immortal. Or a shinigami. Whenever interpretation you like better." Near says out loud, because things like this are best said to the open air with a lot of confidence, where they'll echo back at you, telling you how crazy you sound. "It may be temporary, or it may not. If it is not temporary, I can see why humans do not come here."

Ryuk looks vaguely impressed and Zellogi looks horrified. Near nods politely to the helpful shinigami, before continuing on his journey, a little quicker than he had before. He would prefer to not to be considered dead until he was actually dead.

(X)

Near…hates…physical…activity. He's never been good at it, and it's slightly irked him, because it is useful. Like now, for instance. With a grunt, he jumps again to try and reach the next rock above him and groans a little. He's never once thought about his height as a nuisance, but trying to reach the only stable handhold which is just slightly taller than he is, he wishes that he'd been a tad taller. If he'd been Rester or Mello's height, he'd never have had this problem.

It, of course, doesn't help that the shinigami beside him has been howling with laughter for the past fifteen minutes without pause. He really doesn't know how Yagami managed to put up with the shinigami for so long without going insane. Well….no. Yagami had been insane, no doubt about that. Near just thinks that Yagami might have had his sanity without the 'helpful' shinigami by his side.

"Would you shut up?!" Near snaps finally. The shinigami stops, but probably due to shock, rather than any kind of deference to Near. Near's in shock too. He hasn't shouted since he was six years old. Then again, he had never been this disheveled before.

He has red dust in his hair, on his clothes and in his mouth and the strain in his muscles is almost unbearable. He's tired, sticky and the water in his rucksack is close to running out. For the first time since he was nine, Near understand why normal people actually needed to sleep everyday. If their daily routine consisted of exertion like this all the time…yes he can definitely see why sleep is required on a regular basis.

The shinigami now shakes his head, looking coldly amused and Near find himself being lifted up by the creature by his arms as they fly up to the top of the mountain. Ryuk drops him unceremoniously on the top, but this time, Near is expecting it, and the cloud of red dust is marginally less. It doesn't help his appearance any further. He looks like he's covered in dried blood (and he secretly wonders if that is what the red 'sand' truly is) and there is sand in places he didn't even know sand could get into.

However, in front of him is a shinigami adorned with jewels, slumped lazily on a throne. "So you're the human who everyone's been so annoyed by. You've caused quite a stir. Humans aren't supposed to come to the shinigami realm. It's not supposed to be possible." The shinigami says, a lazy tone to his deep voice.

"Well, here I am." Near said calmly. "You need to relook over your rules."

The shinigami suddenly straightened and puffed outward. Near steps back and for the first time, notices just how much taller everybody is, in comparison to him. "I HAVE!" boomed the shinigami, his voice suddenly impassioned. "I have spent my entire life looking over these rules! No HUMANS IN THE SHINIGAMI REALM! It's in the name! SHINIGAMI REALM!"

Near keeps his face as impassive as possible. However, he is starkly aware that his heart is racing and his blood is thumping in his ears. "I will be out of your realm very shortly. If you would point me in the direction of the shinigami king, I will soon be leaving."

'Justin' frowns. "Isn't that what Ryuk's there for? To tell you stuff?" he asks, as he plops back into his chair.

Near glares at the black-clothed shinigami. "Supposedly, that's the idea. He is, however, singularly unhelpful. Which is why I am forced to ask for your help. I implore you, this is urgent."

Armonia Justin is silent and Near sighs a little, feeling his shoulders slump. His time is ticking by. Soon, Roger will be informed that Near is dead. He needs to find the shinigami king, with or without help. Near turns to leave.

"Ryuk. As a senior shinigami to you, I order that you show this human to the shinigami King. Once that is done, GET HIM OUT OF HERE! Is that clear?" Near whirls around. Justin has not moved but he's just changed Near's world. Ryuk looks sulky but Near cannot help the smile that comes to his face.

"Thank you." Near says before beckoning to Ryuk.

Ryuk rolls his eyes. "Watching you walk was getting boring anyway." And with that, Near is hoisted up by his arms again and soaring away from the red mountain.

(X)

They land outside a large cave-like formation. For once, Near is placed on the ground, instead of dropped, but Near surmises that this is because of the hard granite floor. The red sand has long since disappeared, but the feeling of boredom permeates the entire realm.

Near takes a deep breath in and walks into the cave. It is black and wet, which is surprising, for the largely dry kingdom. The cavern looks empty and Near wonders where the King is supposed to be. Then Near freezes and looks upwards. Yes, he was right. The shinigami king was truly unimaginable. He loomed out of the ceiling and all Near could see of him, through the almost impenetrable darkness were the hands dangling downwards and skull-like features that seemed to stare at Near.

"What do you want, human?" asked the voice of the King. It was old, crackly and sounded like paper.

"I want to make a deal with you." Near said calmly, as he sat down on the floor.

"I will not bring back the dead. I cannot bring back the dead. They are lost to Mu." Said the king and Near rolled his eyes.

"That I know. I am not idiotic, the dead cannot be brought back to life. No, I want to make a trade for the living." Near said calmly, pulling out the Rubik's cube from his backpack. He could solve them in under 30 seconds, but it was something for his hands to do that wasn't twirling with his sand-covered hair.

"Then speak." said the king. Near was aware that Ryuk had slunk in after him and was calmly listening, reclining against one of the walls.

"I want to make a deal with you, that as long as there are humans on the Earth, no death notes will fall down to there." Near said and he could see, out of the corner of his eye, that Ryuk looked very, very annoyed.

"And why do you think I would be able to prevent that? They are accidents, of course. I cannot be held accountable for accidents." said the King.

Near scoffed a little and smirked. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" And he threw a significant look towards Ryuk who was still slouching against the wall, his eyes a little colder than they had previously been.

"Even if it is within my power, why should I fulfill your request?" asked the shinigami King, "There is nothing that you could offer me that I would want."

"Not even human food?" Near asked. His water was nearly gone, but his sandwiches were still intact.

There was a pause and Near was almost disgusted by how easy it was to tempt the shinigami king, but there was a finality to the King's tone when he said, "No, not even human food."

Near sighed. "Then it's come to this. I offer my…game playing skills."

He heard Ryuk start laughing from behind him and the skeletal features of the king seemed to smirk.

"Oh?" asked the King. "What makes you think I'll be interested in playing?"

Near smirks. "Shinigami need human lives to further their own; it is the sole reason for the evolution of shinigami eyes. So, I offer my own life as the stakes for you. My conditions for winning are the notebooks not falling to Earth, and you can have my life if I lose."

"And what makes your life so very different from the others? I could find any human in the world and take their life." The Shinigami King said and Near grinned.

"It's not my life that's the important thing, that's just to make the game a little sweeter for you if you win. It's just, Death has always enjoyed a good game of chess, if I am correct." Near said, smirking.

The king looked taken aback. "However did you know?" he asked and Near felt the inexplicable urge to laugh. He wondered whether Ingmar Bergman had ever met a shinigami. Whatever the situation was, Near won at games. He knew games like chess and checkers and backgammon and mancala off by heart. Near always won. And he would win again, even if his opponent had the experience to beat him.

"Yes," the shinigami King said, "It is true that chess is my favourite game, but I think, that for something this monumental, a different game must be played. A game…of succession."

Ryuk started cackling again and Near felt a shiver go down his spine. He'd played the game of succession for over half of his life, and he'd won, but for a price that he didn't wish to pay again. "How so?" asked Near, making sure that he sounded impassive and bored.

"In this game, you influence the minds of the existing players. You do not exist, except as the voice in their head. You are one side and I would be the other. The objective is to win. As it is, you usually let the challenger choose the game, but, I don't think that would be very interesting. We will replay the game of succession that just occurred. Kira vs L, with you as Kira." explained the Shinigami king and Near was sure that he would have dropped to the ground, had he not already been sitting down.

"As Kira?" Near asks, but then, it is too late.

(X)

Near is in white light and he doesn't exist, yet he does and it's all so strange and unfamiliar and he feels out of his depth. However, the moment that Light Yagami picks up the notebook, Near understands how to go about doing things.

It's a strange feeling, like being a puppet master, with puppets that can tug back if they don't like what you're saying. Near quickly discovers that Light Yagami is a very un-cooperative puppet, but Near doesn't need to control him, because Yagami is winning already.

When Near sees what Yagami does to do trap his drawer, he sees that Yagami is dedicated. When he sees how Yagami kills Raye Penber and Naomi Misora so effortlessly, and brilliantly, Near, finally, truly understands how L had been beaten by Light Yagami, the monster, whom L had known, had predicted and had been eaten by.

When Yagami meets L, is the first time that Near is able to get a solid control over Yagami's mind, to make sure that the discomfiture that Light feels is hidden. The shinigami King seems to be accentuating L's quirks, because really, they were quite offputting. Near imagines that it was the disarming demeanor that happened around himself also, but he'd never been on the receiving end of the spectrum before.

However, it is once Amane is introduced to the equation that Near has an easier time being a puppet-master. He knows that the last thing that Yagami needs in his plans is the excitable young girl, and so he prompts her to stay away from Yagami until required. He is surprised by how easily the shinigami king is playing by the original timeline, but the moment that Amane breaks free of his control, she goes to see Light and L pickpockets Misa with ease. Near leads Light to notice this, and luckily, the prompt is accepted, and Light does not call Amane using that phone.

The suspicion is palpable and somehow, the shinigami King manages to prompt L into searching Amane's flat (because L would never do it without some kind of proof, which Near had not let Light nor Amane give away). However, the evidence of her wrong-doing is too difficult to hide and even Near cannot change the fact that Amane is a messy, spontaneous person by habit.

And when Near finally realizes Light's next plan, one bitter cold morning in a forest out in the middle of nowhere, Near can see that he too would have fallen to Kira, had Light not become complacent. Complacent was the only word for it, complacent and shocked by the idea of retaliation after four years of easy ruling. Because this person and this planning…that had never been evident in Light's plans when Near had met him. In a way, Near is insulted, that he never got the full competition and challenge that would have come from dealing with Kira at the top of his form. Had Near not even registered on Light's threat scale?

And then Near sits back and lets the uncorrupted Light do the work for him. It's pretty interesting, seeing the juxtaposition between Kira and Light. He thinks, that if it weren't for the Death Note, had they ever met, they would have been good friends. He and Light. Quite a strange idea, really. The Higuchi Kira is technically under his jurisdiction, but Near sees no need to alter his actions. Nor really, to alter Misa's actions in going to him, even if Light seems to have a problem with it.

And as that day that Near had spent a whole two years trying to get all of the details about drew closer, it seemed that Light seemed to be slowly going stir-crazy from being chained to L. It took a lot of nudging from Near to keep Light's sanity in place and fixed, and Near wondered whether L actually knew the psychological trauma he was causing. Of course, Near would have felt less sympathy for Light had he actually remembered his purpose as Kira, but he didn't and here, he was just an overly-precocious eighteen year old.

And the day finally comes, and Near is amazed at how detailed it goes to plan. Near needs to do no nudging on his part, and while the Chief Yagami's bullet wound was a casualty that was distressing to Light, it was not overtly detrimental to the plan. And Near watches Light's plan unfold the moment he picks up the death note again, and sees how Rem and Misa are pushed into a corner. And he is witness to his predecessor's death. Surprisingly, Near feels nothing and wonders if that's the effect of the game, or whether being around Yagami has sterilised his feelings this much.

Watari's death is also executed and with it, is the deletion of the data that Near had painstakingly and meticulously rebuilt for four years later. However, he sees that Light almost instantly managed to recover it, and sees the opportunity to win in there. Yagami is a tough puppet to bend, but Near knows that this opportunity is how he wins. It is regrettable that he and Mello have to die for this victory, but he cannot let the shinigami King win, if he wants his world to be free of the Death Notes.

He remembers once, that the Director Yagami said once, that the power to kill was the true evil, and that the person who owned the note was corrupted by the note and haunted by misfortune. He thinks it is true, and that it should not happen again.

This is why, Near prompts Light towards opening the file on the laptop, that read 'Cake'. He knew, of course, that it did not actually contain types of cake. L might have liked to eat cake, but it was for the same reason that Near used toys, a way of rationalising things and keeping yourself rooted in the world of here and now, rather than the world of possibility. Now, it was getting Light to acknowledge that. Yagami was being rather stubborn about opening the file, especially when it was revealed to be password protected and commanded to collapse if the wrong password was entered three times.

Near knew the password would be L's real name. Lawliet, but it was implanting that information into Light's mind that would be tricky. Light had no knowledge of it, having not bothered to look at Rem's notebook, so Near forced him to open the notebook and see the last name that was written in the book. And there, without Near even having to try to tell him, Light typed that name in. The document opened, and there, was a list with photos of all of the children at Wammy's orphanage from the original A, to the T-Z generation, to the current codename generation.

And, Near, with a hint of trepidation, tells Light to write down all of the names. And Light complies easily. It's an easily taken security measure and one he's done before for all of the FBI agents. 40 seconds pass and Near feels the game phase-out and his connections with the puppet terminate and it hurts—

(X)

Near gasps in a deep breath, as he rises from the ground. He is still in the dark cavern, though it feels like he should still be in three places at once, with flittering conscious streams. He breathes deeply, because it feels like his ribs are killing him, like his internal organs have been ripped away from his body. Ryuk has gone and Near has no idea how long the shinigami king and he have been away from the real world. He hopes that he is not classified as dead yet.

However, one thought correlates through his mind. He'd won. That easily. How odd. He'd thought that the shinigami King would be better at what he would do. He'd barely had to do anything.

"Well played, human." said the shinigami King, "I have not had such a good game in a long time. However, that detective's mind was a lot more stubborn than I thought it would be."

Near suppresses a grin, no wonder there'd been little resistance, L hadn't let the shinigami king wrest away control from him! The puppet can pull back if they dislike the order, indeed. He silently thanks L, for his unwilling cooperation. "I win, shinigami. Now swear to me, that as long as there are humans on the Earth, no death notes will fall to the ground."

The shinigami King nods. "I will swear it. On one condition."

Near frowns. Another condition? Have there not been enough nuances to this game? "Speak." Near says shortly.

"I would ask that your successors, once in their lifetimes, will come play a game with me. Just one game. There need be no stakes, unless they will it. I will send Ryuk down to collect them. I have been so bored, and this realm languishes and its shinigami are dull." says the King and for one fleeting moment, Near feels a little bit of pity for the creature.

Near frowns then sighs. His successors can spare a few weeks. "Very well. I agree. Now swear it."

The shinigami says something in a language that Near doesn't recognise and suddenly the two notebooks in his bag seem heavy. Near pulls them out and drops them at the shinigami King's feet. "I believe spare notebooks are your expertise. All spare notebooks must be returned to the shinigami King?"

"That is correct." The shinigami says.

Near nods and makes to walk out of the cavern. His business is done, and while his curiousity is not satisfied, it is not worth facing the wrath of the giant, jewelled shinigami to remain in the shinigami realm to ask some more questions.

(X)

Near sighs as the shinigami Ryuk deposits him in the SPK headquarters. No one was there, unsurprisingly, but the building doesn't seem to e empty either. The equipment is still lying around. How weird, surely Roger would have done something about this by now?

"Well then, I'll see you around, toots." said Ryuk, as he spread his wings outwards, ready to go back to the shinigami realm.

"Don't count on it." Near said mildly, as he turns on the computer that is left in the room. The date shown is six weeks later. He was toeing the line for being dead. He needed to contact Roger to stop the countdown.

He calls the number that Roger had possessed when Near has left. Roger doesn't pick up and Near sighs. Ever since the Japanese investigators had contacted the orphanage and he'd given out he information about Near and Mello, Roger has been regretting his decision and has been changing phone numbers every month.

Nera knows that the new number must be in his emails and goes to check, before stopping. There are 674 emails waiting for him to read. And Roger's email is not in the first page. Near is not wasting his time searching through all of those.

He searches through his phone's contact list. Linda's is there and he's sure that she'll have kept in touch with Roger. He calls her and she picks up on the first ring.

"Hello, this is Leloch Freeman speaking, How can I help you?" she says, and it's in her professional tone.

"Hello Linda. It's Near." Near says, as he twirls his hair. The last of the dice are gone, much to his annoyance. He hopes that the robots are not gone too.

"Near? How are you? Everyone's heard the declaration from L about Kira's death, is it true? Did you and Mello finally kill him?"

"…Yes. Yes, we did." Near says quietly.

Linda's breath hitches. "Was it…hard? Seeing the person who'd killed L?" she asks, her voice as earnest as when she'd asked L if he was afraid of monsters.

"A little. But, he's dead now and I must ask you a favour." Near said.

"Of course!" she exclaims, "What can I do for you?"

"I need to know Roger's most current number. I have been away for quite some time, and I cannot locate Roger's new phone number." Nears said calmly as he scoured the web. Kira's death is plastered everywhere and people's reactions to it and hatred for L and for Kira alike. Good, the world is already coming back to normal, if people are willing to screech their opinions over the internet freely, once more.

"Oh sure. I'll text it over. It's a bit weird, isn't it? Roger being so paranoid?" Linda says calmly and Near frowns.

"A little. But then, wasn't it you who said that everyone from the house was just a little crazy? We all have our quirks. If I'm honest, I'm surprised it didn't show up earlier." Near said as he started looking through his emails and deleting the junk mail.

"That was Elpheba. Or maybe Hobbit. But whomever it was, they were right." Linda says with a laugh, then her voice quiets a little. "I heard that Matt suddenly disappeared without a trace from his home in California. His business, his stuff, just all vanished. They think it was kidnapping or him running away. But I think he joined Mello. Have you heard anything from Matt?"

Near's heart twinges a little. But he won't lie to her. "They're both dead." He says with a sigh. "Both died in the pursuit of Kira. But they laid the groundwork for me to go and kill Kira."

And he hears her gasp. "Not…not the person who kidnapped Takada…?" she mouths, almost inaudibly.

"Matt was the person who the bodyguards shot. Mello was the one who burnt down with her." Near sighs, gripping the phone tightly, his eyes shut in remembrance.

There's a silence over the line for a while. "I'm so sorry." She whispers after a while. "I am so, so sorry. You're all alone again, Near."

"Just send the number over please, Linda. Roger currently thinks I've travelled to another country. I'd like to remedy that." Near says, impatiently. He doesn't need to wallow any further; he'd already indulged in his fair share of grieving the night that he'd received the news that his competition from the orphanage were dead.

"Right." Linda says and his phone buzzes. Near sees the number and nods. "Goodbye Linda."

"Listen Near," she says, "We'll probably never talk again in our lives, and that's fine, but I want you to promise me that you won't let yourself be alone again. It wasn't your fault that they died. You don't need to try and be alone forever in some kind of penance."

Near rolls his eyes. "I know that they didn't die because of me. They died because of Kira. Who do you think that you're talking to, Linda?"

"Your conscious mind knows that you aren't to blame, but I know the subconscious well. I was second best in pysch, remember? You're subconsciously blaming yourself and you'll think up some excuse to remain alone for the rest of your life, and I won't let that happen. Promsie me, Near, please." Linda says fiercely and Near rolls his eyes.

"I promise, Linda. Good luck with your artwork." Near says.

"Good luck as L." she says, before she disconnects.

(X)

A year later, a craze starts all over the internet, about something called Death Notes. There's some stupid manga about a shinigami and a note that writes about death. No real people are in the story, and the shinigami looks far too human to be real, but since the story was written by Amane Misa, Near picks it up.

The story is about some boy called Taro Kagami and the Death Note in it looks too extravagant to be similar to similar to the real one and it's accompanied by a Death Eraser, which is really quite stupid. However, the shinigami, is called Ryuk. And he wears the same kinds of clothes.

Near shuts the manga with an audible thump and looks down at the desk. There are some days he is very glad he made that deal. If the actual death note ever fell down to the Earth again amidst this craze… but that wasn't going to happen. Nevertheless, Near feels his fingers twitch and looks upwards.

"You swore that it would never happen." He says aloud. There is no confirmation of being heard, but Near feels more reassured. And that is enough.


	4. A Different Owner

**A Different Owner**

**Summary: What if it wasn't Light that picked up the notebook? What if Sayu did?**

Sayu clutched her bag and knocked on the door to her brother's room. She wouldn't normally disturb him, especially when he was trying to study for his end of school exams in around two months' time, but she'd never been so unsure before in her life. Never quite this curious either.

"Onii-chan? Open up! I really need your help!" she called.

"Not on Algebra again, Sayu?" he asked, looking amused as he unlocked his door. That's what she liked about her brother, he may have teased her about her weaknesses, but he genuinely cared and would always help her with her problems, not like the other stupid brothers of her friends.

"No," she said shortly, "English."

Light frowned as he let her in and locked the door again. "But English is your best subject, Sayu! You never get less than an A!" he said, looking confused.

"Yeah," said Sayu, "But, I'm a little puzzled. I think I may be translating this wrong." She handed him the black notebook from her bag.

"Death Note." He reads delicately, looking a little perplexed. "Isn't this a little morbid for Junior High reading? We don't cover English literature until the second year of High School. All we end up reading are the train announcements or the music posters."

"Keep reading," Sayu says, looking a little worried.

"All right then, if you insist. 1, The human whose name is written in this note shall die. Definitely pretty morbid. What is this, some sort of chain letter that's spreading through America? I wouldn't be surprised; they're all so hung up on the supernatural." Light said, as he elegantly took a seat on his revolving chair.

Sayu groaned, she really had hoped she'd translated wrong, however unlikely that that was. "Is all the rest about 40 second heart attacks and conditions specified and name and faces required?" she asks, almost afraid of the answer.

Light doesn't answer as he scans through the rest. "Pretty much." He says, looking up finally. "So, what is it? I doubt this is the kind of reading that school assigns, especially when the rest of the notebook is blank."

"You won't believe me, nii-chan." Sayu says blankly. Her brother liked proof and science.

"Try me." He says, and when the light filters through behind him, casting him in silhouette, Sayu feels like she's setting forward some proposal to the Devil's Advocate.

"…It fell from the sky. I was dayd—looking out of the window in Maths, and it just fell and hit the grass outside. I picked it up afterwards and translated it, but…to be honest, I was hoping that I was wrong." Sayu tells him the truth and looks at Light.

He frowns. "If it were anyone else, I'd say you were lying. But your body language says that you're saying the truth, and you're my sister. You don't lie for nothing. If anything, you're too honest." He says. "So, I have no choice but to believe you. But, it's a little crazy." He says, laughing a little.

"Yeah," she says, joining in with the nervous laughter, as she takes back the notebook, "It's probably like what you said, some stupid chain letter prank."

"Yeah." He says. "What nonsense. A note that kills people. Pssh." Technically, the conversation should have ended there and Sayu should have gone back to finish her science homework , but she stayed sitting on Light's bed and he remains still.

"Still," he says, after a few minutes have ticked by. "If it were real…"

They both throw a glance towards the innocuous little book in her hand. "You can't mean to test it?" Sayu asks, her voice hushed.

"Why not?" Light asks back, in kind. "If it's just a prank, nothing happens."

"Still," Sayu says, "If it's real, we've killed someone."

He seems to ignore her as he springs out of the chair, to grab his laptop from his table at the other end of the room. "We can't test it on someone we know. For one, if they really died it would be traced back to us and two, it would be sad if they died." He mused aloud.

"So someone who we don't know? That's a large amount of the world. Anyway, if we actually ki—if they actually died, someone would miss them and it wouldn't be fair." Sayu stammers. She doesn't want to test it out, yet she wants to at the same time and she isn't sure which emotion is the right one to feel.

"Then someone who deserves it. Someone whom the world has no use for. The scum and the filth and the lowlifes." says Light, sounding disgusted.

She isn't aware that he's been harbouring these feelings for so long. He's always been very closed to the rest of the world, yet Sayu had always felt privileged to see his real smiles and real exasperation, rather than the fake, socially appropriate things. Yet, he sounds more alive talking about the criminals than he's ever been about her or about school or normal life. For a moment, one stupid moment, she feels inappropriately jealous of the criminals.

"Still, can we judge them like that?" Sayu asks, "They could still repent if they have the chance. It what prisons are for."

Light pulls a face. "Maybe. But how likely a chance is that?" he asks and Sayu doesn't know.

He shakes his head and turns on his TV. There is breaking news. A preschool is being held hostage by some man called Kurou Otaharada. His picture flashes up on the screen, and Sayu muses that he looks pretty ugly.

"Does he deserve to live?" Light asks, and there's a dangerous and smooth tone to his voice. "Those kids might die if the police are left in the precarious decision. Yet, we could do something. We could stop his actions right now. If this Death Note works…we could be responsible for saving all of their lives."

Sayu feels conflicted. On one hand, she knows that if she consents, Otou-san and Okaa-san wouldn't approve. Yet, Sayu feels placated. Otou-san had forbidden her from seeing the really good movie the other day, when all of other friends had gotten permission to go. They didn't know everything. They weren't always right. Light was always idolized as the perfect son and he thought this way…maybe it wouldn't be too awful And those children's lives would be saved….Otou-chan always said that pedophiles and murders were the worst kind of criminals. She'd be saving Otou-chan some work. Maybe he'd actually come home in the evenings so Sayu could tell him about her accomplishments in swimming and running.

"Do it." She says, before she allows herself to think upon it too long.

Light grabs a fountain pen from the side and writes in his ever immaculate handwriting the name of the man. Sayu starts counting and holds her breath._1, 2,3, …_It feels like an eternity of waiting…._ 35, 36, 37, 40._

Nothing happens and she sees Light almost sag in disappointment. Then the newsreaders start reacting and zoom in on the school. People are streaming out. The newsreaders says some more stuff but, the thing that stands out is the heart attack. A sudden, random heart attack.

She exchanges a look with Light. He seems a little in shock before he gradually grins. It's a little scary if she's honest. "It might just work, Sayu." He says, and he sounds breathless, almost reverent. He flips back his brown hair.

"Imagine what we could do if it actually works…" he says and she knows that her brilliant, immensely talented, amazing brother is lost in the possibilities that Sayu cannot see, will not see, because her fear has petrified her in place. She and Light had just killed someone. Someone had just died because Light had written something down. Death…death shouldn't be that easy.

"Light, time to go to your cram school!" Okaa-san calls from downstairs and they're both drawn out of their own reveries.

He gives Sayu a quick hug, before running down the stairs, swinging his jacket around him as he goes. It isn't until Sayu hears the door slam, that she realizes that he took the Death Note with him.

(X)

He comes back to her room late at night, and looks almost ill. She's in her pyjamas and about to read herself to sleep with Harry Potter, when he walks in, still in his cram school clothes.

"It was no fluke, this afternoon. It really does work, and the specifications too." He says, lowly, and whether he looks disgusted by himself or by something else, she isn't sure. His head is low and bent and his eyes are covered by his hair.

"What happened to not killing people we know?" Sayu asks, her voice an octave higher, gripping his hands tightly.

"Not someone we knew personally. Just from hearsay. And I had to." Light said, his voice dull and monotone. He doesn't meet her gaze.

"Who?" she demands again, her voice growing higher again. Why was he so morose?

"Takuo Shuibuimaru." Light says, and when he looks up, there's something both crazed and scared and oh so alone there, in his wide, imploring brown eyes. "I had to, you see! He was hurting this poor woman and I was so angry. I wrote traffic accident next to his name and…" At this, he shudders and shivers, his eyes going distant.

"It was awful. There was blood everywhere. And the man…he didn't even look human after that. Just...just this lump of flesh with hair." He describes and Sayu has to stop herself from retching.

Light looks awful and she feels awful so she pulls him into a tight hug, rubbing his back and murmuring nonsense in his ear. They stay like that for a long time, brother and sister, before he pulls away from her. He looks normal now. His eyes are back to their usual confidence, if a little shaken and his mouth no longer trembles.

"We can't use the note anymore." Sayu says firmly. "It's awful, just plain awful. Now we know that it works, we have to give it in to the police."

Light drew back, looking horrified. "We can't, Sayu. We simply can't, because it'll pass up to the government. Can you imagine what would happen if the Death Note came into the hands of politicians? It'd the Cold War all over again, but ten times worse, because they can use it without worldwide annihilation and it's really, really discreet. We'd become a dictatorship. Japan would attempt to rule the world with this and the UN would intervene and it would be World War 3, with ten times more casualties. No, handing it to the authorities is the last thing we must do with it."

Sayu cringed. "How can you be sure that will happen, Light?" she asked, hesitantly.

He threw her a withering look. "You've seen the news. You know the state of our politicians. And not just Japan's, the whole world. It's all corrupt and they all strive for the power. The power that a Death Note would bring. A power we can't allow to fall into the wrong hands. Even if you don't want to use it, we need to keep it." Light sad, calmly and Sayu frowned.

"But, Light." She stops and stares at it. "Look at it. It's so awful. Such an awful temptation to keep around. What if one day you grow annoyed with your Math teacher and you had that in your backpack? You'd use it in your rage and that would give you away It's always there are constant temptation, an easy way out of everything. It's wrong. The idea of it existing is wrong, and we should destroy it." She says

His face is cold and hard, as she finishes. He says nothing for a while, his brown eyes closed-off and harsh, flickering with thought before he nods. "You would only fall to that temptation if you were weak, Sayu. I'm not weak and I'm not stupid. Normal people don't need to die. Only the criminals."

"But it's evil! It's murder, true and simple!" she exclaims again, looking terrified. She doesn't want to have to deal with her brother becoming a murderer for his cause.

"Perhaps it is. But who else would do it? Who else would have the courage to make a change, make a difference? Yes, it's evil, and yes, it's unlikely that I'll ever be classed as someone good or something other than a murderer, but who else would try? This world is rotten, Sayu. And I plan to clean it up, if it takes my life, my soul and my mind." Light said, standing up, his face cold and sharp, accentuated by the strange twisting angles of her lava lamp.

Sayu bites her lip. "Can't we discuss this tomorrow? When both of us are ready to deal with this? I want to think this over. This isn't a decision to be rushed into. Murder isn't something that can be justified instantaneously."

Light nods, and he seems more like her brother again, warm, but slightly distant. "Sweet dreams, Sayu." He says, as he reaches for the notebook. Sayu's hand snaps over it.

"I think I'll keep this for now." She says, as she tucks it into her bedside drawer. "To keep to temptation at bay. This should be a unanimous decision between both of us."

Light looks unhappy, but acquiesces and shuts her door with a soft thunk. Sayu slumps down in her bed and starts to cry a little. She doesn't know what to think or do. Her brother, or her morals?

(X)

She comes back home the next day, after a long day at school, and almost instantly, Light's cornered her in the kitchen.

"Well?" he asks, his tone imperious and demanding.

"I think we ought to draw out some ground rules as to who count as criminals that deserve death, but…I've been thinking about what you said, all day."

At this, Sayu pauses and attempts to phrase her thoughts into coherent words, as Light waits patiently for her, rolling a red apple over the surface of the kitchen table. "This world is rotten, that I can't deny. But, murder to me is still abhorrent. And I feel that we reach their level if our only efforts to change the world remain in murder. So, I want you to promise me that you will still try and get into the Police and do something more productive from there, rather than rely on the Death Note." She finishes, the words tumbling out and she realizes that she hasn't said half of the things that she wanted to and none of them make sense and it's probably best to stop there.

Light throws her an odd look, before nodding, a gentle smirk on his face. "I agree. There are obviously some people who don't deserve to die, especially if their crimes were accidental or in extenuating circumstances. If you want, you can decide who really deserves to die."

Sayu frowns. "Can…will you be writing the names in the notebook?" she asks, an honest fear in her voice. She didn't like the notebook, and she had no desire to feel the blood on her hands.

She had no desire to be the ever remorseful Lady Macbeth. _Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. _No, she refused to play the role of Lady Macbeth in this story.

"If you want me too." He says, his voice oddly gentle, as he bites into the apple.

Sayu nods, and she knows that it's selfish but she doesn't want to write the names in.

Light grins easily, to show that he has no hard feelings and places an arm around her shoulders. "Don't be scared. We're going to make such a difference. You'll see. Now, as far as the actual murders go, I think we should make them all heart attacks. You see…."

(X)

Sayu frowns as she stares at the quadratic equation. Factor them out. Should be easy. It really wasn't. x squared – 6x + 8. How was she supposed to be able to factor them out? She taps her pencil across the paper and frowns. She doesn't know what it is supposed to be.

Sayu flops back into her chair and groans. Why was Math so difficult? Her head just couldn't see the numbers. All she could see were words. Words like names. Heck, even reading through the tonnes and tonnes of criminal research that Light had sent her was more interesting than this.

"You don't look like you liked my gift very much." came a voice.

Sayu turned around and shrieked in fear, toppling over, tangling up with her chair. There, above her was a monster. It had purplish skin, with a long elongated face and it towered over her. It wore all black and seemed to have feathers and pierced ears. She started hyperventilating and the monster seemed to grin even further.

"Why are you surprised? I am the shinigami that presides over your notebook. The name's Ryuk. I wonder, have you noticed that the book isn't an ordinary notebook, yet?"

Sayu gulps just a little and smiles weakly. "Hey Onii-chan," she calls out loudly, "You've left your notebook in my room again, idiot!"

Hopefully Light will understand that without Okaa-chan being alerted.

"Hey! I wouldn't call someone who just came first out of all of Japan in the Scholastic Exam, an idiot!" Light called as she heard his footsteps thud along the door.

He opened the door and his eyes widened to terrified black dots. He stepped back and pressed a hand to his mouth, before he stepped into the room hurriedly and locked the door.

"So your brother can see me too? You showed him the notebook? Interesting." said Ryuk and Light seemed to almost calm as the shinigami talked.

"What are you?" Light asked calmly, as he flopped onto Sayu's bed.

"He's a shinigami called Ryuk." Sayu quickly answered.

Light's face sharpened as it often did when he was thinking. "Well," he said, after a moment's pause. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that'd be lying, so I won't."

Sayu giggles a little. "Yes, you gave me a tremendous shock." She says, as she finally picks up her chair and sits back down in it.

"I would say that I didn't mean to, but that'd be lying, so I won't." mimicked the shinigami and all three of them burst into laughter, if not entirely calm laughter on her part, in any case.

"So shinigami, I have a few questions," said Light pulling out the Death Note. He opened up the pages calmly and brandished them at Ryuk. The shinigami took the Death note, looking impressed.

'Wow! I'm the one who's surprised now! I've heard of notebooks falling to the human realm before, but never of someone who did so much in just five days!" said the shinigami, an honest excitement to its voice. It was strange really, Sayu mused, she'd imagined a shinigami to be more scary, but the only thing that was threatening was its appearance.

"Yes well. We have a cause, and we plan to stick to it." Light said calmly. Sayu wished that he wouldn't include her in the 'cause', she wasn't the one set on cleansing the world. "So, what are you here for? Come to claim our souls?" he asked, and this time, she caught a look of despair in his eyes.

Sayu tensed and turned towards the shinigami, biting her lip and edging towards the door slowly.

"Claim your souls? Some imagination you humans have. I won't do anything to you. The notebook's yours." He said, pointing towards Sayu. "Once a notebook falls into the human world, it belongs there, until the owner is dead. Since I have no intention of killing either of you currently, the notebook is yours."

Light looked fairly shocked. But Sayu hadn't missed something the shinigami had said. "Currently?" she asked.

"Sure. I may get bored later on and kill you. But as long as you're interesting…I have no intention of killing either of you. Oh, and," The shinigami stepped out onto her balcony and flew out onto the street. Sayu was about to stop it but it perched on the lamppost as a few chattering girls walked by. They didn't even notice it.

"I'm only visible and audible by those who've touched the Death Note. So don't worry about me. This notebook is a bond between the shinigami Ryuk and the human Yagami Sayu. With the brother, Yagami Light tacked along, of course." Said the shinigami as it flew back inside.

She threw a look towards Light, she wasn't sure how he'd take to being called an extra. He still looked fairly shocked. But the previous statement from the shinigami was still running through Sayu's mind. She would only be alive as long as she was interesting to the shinigami. That…that was a frightening prospect.

"Any way I can avoid being killed so you can get your notebook back?" she asked casually.

"Sure, you can give up ownership of the Note back to me. But then I'd have to wipe your memories of the Death note and of me." Ryuk said.

Light seemed to smirk. "Any way for someone to transfer ownership from one human to another?"

"Sure. But I'd have to work as an intermediary." said Ryuk, "Because the memories need to be erased, and that can't happen without a shinigami present. Oh yeah, I remember something else. If you've owned the notebook , and you haven't written any names in it, you'll still be able to remember everything if you forfeit ownership."

Light nods, but the enthusiasm that was previously there has faded. Sayu is a little disgusted by her own brother. He wanted to take the notebook only as long as Sayu wasn't there to act as his conscience? How irritating. Either way, she didn't really want to give up the notebook just yet, in fear of what would happen if it fell into Light's hands completely.

"So, are there any bad points to using a Death Note then?" asked Light.

Ryuk tilted his head to one side. "Well. Some would say the stress and fear that the human undergoes is a detriment…and I'll be writing both of your names down in my notebook when it's time for both of you to die, but…don't think that you can go to Heaven or Hell after writing in the Death Note."

He pauses for dramatic effect before saying, "That's it." There's another pause before her brother laughs a little, his shoulders shaking.

"Something to look forward to when you die." said the shinigami and her brother laughs even harder and she wonders whether he's in hysterics. But no, the laughter is deliberate and while slightly crazed, not hysterically out of control. Something else is funny to him.

"Light?" she asks, "What's so funny?"

"You won't go to heaven or hell." says Light, with a grin, "Because neither of them exist. Right, Ryuk?"

"Haha, you just keep surprising me. I thought every human believed in that stuff. No, no matter what you do, everyone goes to the same place. Death is equal in its monotony." says Ryuk and her brother starts laughing again.

"Just think Sayu, in Death we could meet murderers and martyrs alike!" he says, again, sounding genuinely crazed as he hiccoughs.

Sayu merely shudders and places a hand on his shoulder. "Let's not talk about that. If I have my way, my Death isn't going to be at least until after I graduate High School. What I want to know, is why you picked me, shinigami?"

"Picked you? Don't be conceited. I just dropped it. It was utter coincidence that you picked it up. It's why it's in English; the most popular language in the world." Said Ryuk, looking bored.

"Then why did you drop it?" asked Light, his serious demeanour recovered, looking much more like her brother. "With an explanation like that, it was no accident."

"Well, you are clever then, aren't you? Because I was bored." says the Shinigami. They pause for a little while. Because it was bored? _Because_, it was _bored_? Sayu can't even fathom it.

"It may sound strange to you, but I didn't feel alive before. It's dull in the shinigami realm. All you do is gamble all day and look down at the human world. And if you try and kill people, as is your duty, you get teased for working too hard. And besides, killing humans from the Shinigami realm isn't fun at all. And you can't kill shinigami by writing their names down. So, I figured, this might be more interesting." The shinigami finishes quietly.

She exchanges another wide-eyed, shocked look with Light.

"Well," Light says after a moment, turning around. "If I'm honest, that was one of my main reasons too. I was bored."

'Light!" Sayu screeches and he shrugs.

"Say what you will about my personality, Sayu, but it's true." He says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

In that moment, she looks at him and she can't see the brother that she knows. But, he's more relaxed than she's ever seen him. And Sayu can't help but wonder if the 'genuine' Light she'd known had just been another mask that she's fallen for. She looks at him; he's thinner than he was before. He's lost weight, but then, so has she. They've both lost sleep, she's had nightmares about death and disaster and Light turning into something unrecognizable.

"I thought you wanted to make a change to the world?" she asks, her countenance disturbed.

"Of course I want to make a change in the world!" Light snapped. "It's just I wouldn't have done it unless I was bored. Two factors in my decision, both that led to the same outcome. What does it matter?"

"It matters, because when it comes to a choice between being bored or being righteous, I'm afraid that you'll discard the righteous part!" Sayu retorts.

The shinigami starts laughing and the two freeze in their argument. "You two, are so very amusing. This is going to be very interesting indeed. What is this about righteousness?"

Light grins and explains his plan about killing all the criminals with heart attacks, because it was likely that a string of suspicious deaths would be noticed, and it was best to make it look like only one way of killing people existed, to make the rest of the world feel safer and to hide a security-plan. She thinks, that he seems to prefer explaining things to the shinigami than he does to her. Perhaps it is because the shinigami panders to him.

Sayu frowns. Does she want her brother's attentions or her morals? It's not the first time she's asked herself that question during the past five days, and her brother has always come first. It was part of the Yagami's unwritten rules; family came before anything else. Yet…was it really meant to be this much of a sacrifice? Her dad hadn't sacrificed his job… yet, his job hadn't clashed with familial duties, and he'd always made time for them as little children, even if he was scarcely around nowadays.

Sayu sighed. She didn't know what she wanted or what she felt. And opinions could always change, but Light being her brother never would. She would support Light as she always had done before and hope that she was making the right decision.

(X)

She decides very quickly that she dislikes having the shinigami around. She feels more awkward when she's changing and whenever it talks to her, she has to try so hard to not react. Its tone is creepy and it very obviously tries to scare her and Sayu's trying so hard not to react or even look affected, but it's so difficult. It's always making these jokes with Light that only those two seem to understand, and Sayu feels in over her head. She wishes some days that it would haunt Light instead of her, but she need to keep the Death Note, or else Light would leave her even further behind.

She's drowning in the criminal reports and homework and running practices and swimming practices and her own junior high exit exams coming up soon and she still doesn't understand how to factor quadratic equations, but somehow, it doesn't seem to matter. She doesn't know how Light is keeping up with all of his work. He has two schools and homework, studying for the high school exit exam and is still finding the time to research criminals and once Sayu's done reading then, goes onto kill them.

She finds herself spending a lot more time in Light's room, asking him for help, either in math or understanding the complicated criminal cases with to and fros between corrupt lawyers and the flawed judicial system. She's barely eating and sleeping and even her friends note that she's becoming more distant with them. The concerns about the soap operas that she used to love and how Ryuuga Hideki is doing in showbiz, no longer seem important; no longer even register on her mental mind.

Instead, the Kira fansites that are popping up and the talk shows about Kira and the murders and the rapes (she hadn't even known such things even existed until she'd had to delve into the cruelest part of humanity) and pedophiles and many, many more things she now slogs through occupy her mind.

It's becoming monotonous and Sayu's losing her hope and her stress is overwhelming her. It's been three days since the shinigami arrived and Sayu can't take it and kicks the wall in frustration.

"Can you please go stalk my brother instead?" she asks to the shinigami, "I have enough difficulty trying to study without you leering over my shoulder. And he actually appreciates your company."

The shinigami laughs and blends in through the wall. Sayu shudders and gets out her running log and fills in her time. 22 minutes, 33 seconds for five kilometres. She was getting much better at this.

"Hey." Said the shinigami.

"What?" she asked, 'I thought I told you to haunt Light."

"Yeah, I just thought you'd want to know that he's gone crazy about some Lind L Tailor person. That's it." The shinigami blended back into the wall and she rolled her eyes. Gods, it existed to just to- gone crazy? Why would it say his name specifica—Shoot.

Sayu ran out of her room, leaving her chair on the floor and dashed into Light's room. He was writing down the man's name from the TV and Sayu saw the ICPO logo behind him and tackled Light to the ground. Unfortunately, the notebook fell pretty close to Light and he was still attempting to write the name down. She wrestled with his hand, but despite him not having played tennis for three years, he was still stronger than her. He pushed her away and finished writing the last consonant of Lind L Tailor's name.

Sayu stopped and stared at him in horror. Light looked satisfied and she screamed and shook him.

"You idiot!" she shrieked, "He was innocent, you freak! How could you do that! He didn't do anything criminal!"

"Are you two okay?" came her mother's voice and Sayu was aware that the door was open.

"Just fine, Okaa-san." Light said coolly, seemingly regaining his composure, "Don't worry."

Light got up from underneath Sayu, shut the door just as the dead Lind L Tailor flickered away from the screen to be replaced with a large L sign. Light looked furious and they both listened as he talked about how he'd killed a proxy and how L, this great detective bloke had managed to narrow down their location to the Kanto region of Japan, the only place where it was broadcasted, because of the first person they'd killed. He then dared Light to kill him and she stared and Light snarled at the screen.

"Calm down brother. You brought this upon yourself." She says coolly. "He was innocent. Well his proxy was not, but his persona was innocent. What happened to killing the criminals alone? Now, not only have you revealed our location, but also our limitations and the fact that we can be intimidated. He will work overtime to try and find us, and this you know. So what did he say that was so antagonistic that you ruined everything we were attempting to work towards?"

Light straightened and his snarling face had gone, but he looked coolly angry now, and she wasn't sure which one was scarier. "He said that we were evil. That what we were doing was inherently wrong!"

Sayu nearly screamed. "Didn't you say that only three days ago? You said that it wouldn't be met well by most of the world! You were ready, expectant for that! Why the hell you did you change your opinion?"

Light snarled. "I know that it was a logical fallacy, Sayu! You've done so many things that weren't exactly filled with clear-sighted knowledge, and I was always there to pick up the pieces and I never accused you of anything!"

Sayu shook his shoulders. "It was never something this serious! Do you realize that if we get caught, we could die?"

Light coolly glanced down at her, his composure seemingly regained, a smirk the only expression on his face. "We won't get caught. Trust me on that. I've made some precautions and I think that you should follow them. And of course, the race is on, now. Either we find L, or he finds us. He may have won this round, but the advantage is ours. He relies on the police and that, is his weakness."

Sayu threw him a look. "Light…"she says, "You aren't thinking of…"

"Hacking into the police databases? It's easy enough. Otou-san's not exactly creative password-wise. It's yours or my name with the other's birthday." Light says, rolling his eyes. It changes every now and then, but only ever between those two.

Sayu rolls her eyes. "So tell me about these precautions, idiot-savant."

"Not an idiot." Light retorts immediately, "And anyway, we should keep the death note safe so I was thinking of making a trap—"

(X)

"I still can't believe you baited L like that!" Sayu says sharply, as she scrawls out her history homework from the textbook.

"It was a week ago, and nothing dramatic has happened. We're fine and L's just a tad more confused. He could do with some taking down a few pins, the arrogant son of a-" said Light, as he threw an apple to Ryuk, who happily ate it, not even looking up from the computer screen.

"Light." Sayu says, warningly and Light turns around and grins at her, the creepy grin that Sayu has now dubbed 'The Kira Smile'.

"Sorry Sayu, I won't damage your poor, virgin ears. That pompous and self-inflated fool. Happier now?" Ryuk snorts a little at this.

"I think you should think about exactly who you're talking about; him or you." Sayu muttered and Light faked offence, as Ryuk started to cackle.

"Oh, my own sweet sister hates me! Now, I was going to tell you something very important, but now I won't." Light says and Sayu sighs. She both hates and loves this game, but if Light says that it's important…

"Oh, so _terribly_ sorry that your precious, _precious_ ego was wounded. It won't happen again, I assure you. Now speak." Sayu said and Light laughed easily.

"That was not an apology." He said, turning around in his chair, legs swung out around the backrest. For a moment, Sayu felt like it was their childhood all over again, with subtle teasing and laughing comments.

Sayu's missed that. It's only been three weeks since the Death Note fell to the ground, but Sayu's missed the easy-going aspect to their relationship. It seems that they are constantly on opposing sides on how they should use the Death Note and who they should kill and how to do so. (Light's more creative side is something that Sayu had never wished to see. She'd been happy believing that her brother was boring in that particular aspect)

"Come on, Light. We haven't the time to muck around. What's up?" she asked, placing her pencil down.

"Umm, has it occurred to you that you've been followed?" asked Light, and Sayu shook her head.

"Well, we are. Me in particular, but you're more likely to get caught, especially with Ryuk hanging around you, and the temptation to speak with him." Sayu hasn't often had that temptation, but even she can't deny that the shinigami is more like an annoying pet now, rather than something terrifying, especially when he drools all over the carpet and gets so excited about playing Mario Kart with her. "I may ask you do to some strange things these next few days, but that's just to shake off our tail. Just trust me."

Sayu frowns. Should she just give in to Light on this? What if he attempts to take advantage of her slacking and do something strange with criminals? No, Light might have changed, but Sayu refused to believe that he'd changed that much. He was honourable, and most of all he was her brother, even if his Kira smiles were the most disturbing things on planet Earth, even scarier than Ryuk's declaration of killing her when she stopped being interesting.

She grins and hugs him. "Of course I trust you, onii-chan!" she said. "Just, no doing weird things with criminals, okay?"

Light grins easily. "Course not. I'm still running that stuff by you, Sayu."

She grins back and there's definitely an ease and genuine happiness in his face. She heads back to history, with a smile playing over her face.

(X)

It's Saturday morning and Sayu is feeling disproportionately tired. She'd stayed up until eleven the previous night, reading and judging criminals. It was getting easier, though, not any less boring. She attempts to make herself hot chocolate, but puts in salt instead of sugar, much to her mother's amusement.

"That's why you leave the food making to me, Sayu. And to Light, when he can drag himself away from studying. You take after your father in that sense, Soichiro's cooking is dreadful." Her mother says, as she serves Sayu properly sweet tasting hot chocolate.

"I know, Okaa-san. I just wanted to try and be independent." Sayu said, rubbing away the sleep form her eyes, as she took a deep sip of the scalding drink.

"Good morning, Okaa-san! Good morning, Sayu! "Light says, as he runs down the stairs, sounding like a horde of elephants. "Are you free today?" he asks Sayu, as he makes himself a cup of black coffee.

"Free? Huh, a bit yeah. I only have science homework to finish and I can do that tomorrow. Why?" Sayu asks, as Light takes a seat opposite her.

"What do you think about a trip to Spaceland?" Light asked her, grinning, over his mug.

"Spaceland?" Sayu asks, looking at Light in shock.

"But haven't you got studying to do?" asked Okaa-san, looking confused, "You've been working so hard in the weekdays."

"Well yes. But I've been doing so well, I thought I'd take a break, before I overtire myself. And Sayu's been looking really tired these past few days. I thought maybe a trip to the theme park would be a fun way to get us out of the school blues." Light explains easily.

Sayu knows that he has another alternative motive hidden in here, a Kira motive. She just can't figure it out, but she's happy to comply. But really? Did he have to bring up the fact that she was tired up to Okaa-san? It was his fault that she was staying up so late nowadays, anyway. Him and his stupid plans for saving the world.

"When you put it that way," Sachiko says warmly, "It seems like a great idea. Go have a bit of fun. Do you want a picnic or will you be using the last of your pocket money to buy something there?"

"We wouldn't want to trouble you, Okaa-san, especially on such short notice. We'll buy something there." Sayu says, cutting in before Light. She can be very polite when she needs to be.

Her mother smiles and pats Sayu on the head. "I am very lucky to have such wonderful children. What did I ever do to deserve both of you?"

Sayu grins nervously. It's a positive statement, but she can imagine the same reaction, with a lot more crying, if Okaa-san ever find out about what she and Light have been doing in their spare time. Best to keep this as hushed up as possible.

(X)

"Okay, so spill." Sayu said, as she tucked her hair into her beret, "Why are we going to Spaceland of all places?"

Light shook his head. "Can't tell you. You might not be able to react as convincingly if you know my plan. Just…follow my instructions. Like a good little sister, okay?"

Sayu scowled at him, before grinning. "Race you to the bus station."

"Against a long-distance runner? I think not, Sayu." Light said, coolly.

"Oh come one, Mr. Tennis-Player. Surely you're not that unhealthy! And it isn't even that far, anyway!" Sayu wheedles and Light rolls his eyes.

"Fine. But you'd better give me a headstart." He said.

"Five seconds." Sayu says, cursing her arms over her chest. He looks like he's about to protest, but Sayu cuts him off. "Five seconds. Go."

He starts sprinting, faster than Sayu thought he was capable of, and Sayu counts to five obediently, before racing after him, her fringe coming loose out of her beret as she sprints after him. She catches up to him with ease and they touch the bus stop at the same time, laughing as they do so, much to the disapproval of the businesswoman who seems very occupied by her laptop.

Light is out of breath, but Sayu's barely panting. "You've been practicing." She accuses, "I was way faster than you before."

"Course I've been practicing. You think my pride could have withstood being slower than my younger sister?" says Light, inbetween breaths. But, Sayu's gotten better at this deception stuff. He's referring, by his pride, to the Death Note. He's scared of being caught and wants to be prepared for anything that may even involve physical activity if worse comes to worst.

"Haha, course not. Your pride is the size of a large house." She says easily, as she shoves her hair back inside her beret.

The bus draws up and Sayu pays the man, smiling at him easily. Light nods too, casually, and they grab a seat near the back of the bus. A foreign man with cropped black hair comes in after them, in a long brown trenchcoat and sits behind them. Sayu frowns, she wonders why a foreigner wants to go to Spaceland alone. Still, there was an old granny headed to Spaceland, it was best not to question things like this.

"Hey Sayu," Light says, "Which rides do you want to go on while you're there?"

"The ones that spin you round really fast and upside down." Sayu answers immediately and Light pulls a face.

"Typical. I should have known that you would want to make yourself throw up." He says darkly and Sayu hits him, playfully.

"Light!" she admonishes. "I have a perfectly valid explanation for wanting to go there first. I haven't eaten any breakfast, therefore I will not throw up, because there is no food to throw up. And anyway, I want to savour the delicious junk food that Okaa-san never lets us eat." Sayu says smugly and Light laughs easily.

"I can't believe that you can actually eat that stuff. It tastes awful and you've studied saturated fats, Sayu, you know how disgusting all of those are." Light says, shuddering.

"Rabbit." She accuses and he smirks, punching her this time.

"Shut up Sayu. Anyway, if I'm a rabbit, you're a walrus." He says smugly and this time, Sayu digs a finger into his side indignantly.

"Hey, you have no right to call me fat. I'm the one who runs over 5k every week and swims twice that much. All you do is sit in your room, stare at your computer and eat potato chips. You're more likely to be the one to be the walrus by age 30." She accuses. Light grins indulgently, but it sharpens as some weird looking guy walks into the bus. Let the show begin.

"I'm hijacking this bus!" he yelled, whipping out a gun and pointing it against the driver's forehead.

Sayu gasped and placed her hand to her mouth. So this was what all of those experiments were for. Light would be in control of this man's every move, of that she was sure.

"Shut up! I'll kill whoever makes a scene!" yelled the man and this time she had to fake the fear and clung to Light's arm.

"Driver, you know the number to Spaceland , right? Call it." said the hijacker again. Suddenly, he looked familiar.

"Light, isn't he Matsushiro Nakaokaji? The bank-robber from two days ago that escaped?" she whispers angrily, as the driver converses with the people in charge of Spaceland.

"I think so." Light whispers back, the role of older brother firmly cemented in place.

"Silence!" shrieked the hijacker and Sayu leant back and shut up.

Light seemed to have grabbed a pen and some paper instead. He fiercely scribbled away at it and quickly held up the note to Sayu.

_Don't worry, when the criminal isn't looking, I'll attack the hand that has the gun in. Remember how Dad us to do that? He's small. I can take him. _

Before Sayu could reply, the foreigner from behind him whispered in. "Don't do that! That'd be so dangerous. Let me handle it."

Light was about to reply on paper when the foreigner whispered. Don't bother. He won't hear us now that the bus is moving again. Just don't act like you're talking."

Light screwed up the paper and shoved it in his pocket. "From your accent, you're not from Japan," he says pleasantly.

'Yeah," the man says, "Japanese American."

"Hmm. So how can you prove to me that you aren't the hijacker's accomplice?" Light asked and Sayu's memory harkened back a few years ago to where Otou-san had been talking about that to Light.

"Oh yeah!" she says, "Otou-san taught us about that, didn't he? One hijacks the bus and the other remains the accomplice, pretends to be caught up in the bus and shoots anyone who doesn't cooperate. Are…are you going to shoot us?"

The foreigner shakes his head and hands over an ID. Raye Penber from the FBI. Light looks completely bewildered for an instant before he schools his face and looks just a little surprised instead.

"I believe you." Light said, "But I don't know why the FBI are here. Do you have a gun?"

"Yes." Raye Penber whispered back to them.

"Then I'll leave this in your hands." Light says, before relaxing back in his seat. He doesn't look like he's moving. But Sayu's next to him, and she can feel his hand subtly moving and grabbing something else from inside his pockets. Sayu is curious as to the next step of his plan but doesn't say anything.

Suddenly, Light drops a scrap of paper, and bends over to pick it up. However, the hijacker notices and runs over.

"Hey, what is this? Psssing notes to one another?" asked the hijacker. Sayu was now petrified. If he'd dropped the note he'd just been writing…

"Pah, some school notes. How boring." said the hijacker, chucking it back at Light's head. "Now, don't make any sudden movements or…else…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING? THAT THING IN THE FAR BACK?"

Raye stood up and looked panicked, and Sayu faked looking scared by the hijacker, but she knew what Light had dropped now and how the rest of his plan would pan out. Sayu was no genius, but she wasn't exactly stupid either. She sat back and watched the hijacker go crazy before running out of the bus. His death was gruesome, and she threw a withering look towards Light as the old lady behind them, fainted.

His acting of looking mollified was impeccable, but she could tell that he felt no remorse. Was it bad that Sayu wasn't sorry that the criminal was dead?

They all make their way out of the bus and the agent follows behind them. "Listen," he says, his voice low so only the two of them can hear. "I'm on a secret mission here in Japan and I really wasn't supposed to be here, so I'd appreciate if you would omit my presence here from any accounts that you may give."

Light throws him an assessing look but Sayu grins easily. "Of course we won't say anything, Penber-san, not even to Otou-san!" she says and he gives them a grateful smile before rushing off.

"Okay Light, spill. What the hell was that whole debacle for?" said Sayu as they leant against the bus as people around them fussed about the blood leaking from the front of the unfortunate truck that had hit the hijacker.

"His name. There are 12 FBI agents in America that are following the students of the police families. This is because L has most likely already deduced that Kira is an older child. We need to get rid of them, so I needed to get his name in an unsuspicious manner and from there, I can get the other eleven."

"Wrong." Sayu said, "We're going to deal with this in a sensible manner. By killing the FBI agents, we show that we can be intimidated and that the FBI agents were close to finding us. He didn't suspect us at all. We'll be clear of suspicion if we leave them alone." The main argument should have been that they were innocent and hadn't done anything wrong, but Sayu's given up pretending that her brother cares about that anymore.

"True, but we'd also decimate the Japanese Police Force and break L's connection to the FBI. They'll fall apart with fear, after they realize that Kira will also target those that oppose him." Light argues, as they push away from the scene, heading back to their house.

"Perhaps, but then we'd scare the public too. Up until now, it is believed that Kira will only kill those who've done something wrong. The FBI are innocent, so the people will feel fear. They will realize that they too could be eradicated at any moment. That's not the kind of legacy we want to create. Replacing fear of criminals with fear of Kira. That's just wrong." Sayu says, as she pulls his arm in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going, Sayu?" Ligth asked, as she tugged him in the opposite direction.

"Spaceland." She says. "You promised me junk food. I want junk food."

Light laughs and lets himself be dragged along by Sayu.

(X)

Sayu laughs as Nagino-chan waves and walks away. She pulls her backpack tighter over her shoulder, ignoring the back pains that were starting up from the three new textbooks that had found their way in there. It was only a few days until the final exams, so Sayu had gone to the library to get some more books on English literature, especially since she'd found out about the extra credit section she could do to get into an advanced English Class at high school.

Sayu twists the key in the lock as she gets in, pulling her hair of its tight braid that she's had it in for running practice. "Hey Light, I'm back!" she calls. She knows that Okaa-san won't be in today until later, because she's gone to Saitama so she doesn't greet her, but instead, goes into the kitchen to grab some fruit.

Light is in the living room when she goes in there to dump her rucksack. He gins her and hugs her. Sayu does her best not to freeze as he does so. He urgently whispers. "The house is under surveillance by L, no talking to Ryuk, no feeding Ryuk, no death note research, don't turn on the news."

He won't be able to hide the fact that he whispered something to her, so Sayu giggles. "Oh, you shouldn't be so rude. I know you don't like my friends crushing on you, but Nagino-chan really does like you."

He does admirably in accepting their conversation. "Look, I'm just not interested. Especially with the exams coming up. And anyway, don't you think she's a bit too old for me?"

"Otou-san's five years older than Okaa-chan." Sayu says stubbornly and Light rolls his eyes.

"They were both adults when they first met, Sayu. In fact, let's not even stray down that path. Haven't you got algebra to do?"

"Haven't you got studying to do?" she asks, instead, staring at him stubbornly.

"Yes, but like a good older brother, I thought I'd help you with algebra up until dinner. Then, in exchange, you won't bother me, because I have to do science and verbal reasoning up until it's time to sleep."

"You aren't going to stay up until midnight again, are you?" she asked, "I was getting some water last night at around 1 and you were still up."

Light rolled his eyes and leant back. "Such is the life of a diligent student."

"Diligent, please, don't lie to yourself. Didn't one of your reports last year say that you were falling asleep in some of your advanced placement physics classes?" she said and Light frowned at her.

"Hey, I knew that stuff already! It's hardly like quantum mechanics takes too much thought. As long you give it a separate distinction form classical physics, the ideas of quantum time foam really aren't that difficult to grasp. And anyway, it was first thing in the morning, and you know I only managed to persuade Okaa-san to actually let me drink coffee last year." Light said, as Sayu pulled out her algebra books from her bag.

"Like that stopped you before. Didn't you used to get Yamamoto to sneak you coffee in from Starbucks in exchange for homework help?" Sayu asked and Light scowled at her angrily. Sayu merely grins; this was payback for setting Okaa-san onto her last week about her nightmares.

"You're such a brat Sayu, I wouldn't be talking. Did I not catch you sneaking out to go see the newest Hideki Ryuuga film two months ago, even after Otou-san told you not to go?"

Oh, that was low. He knew that Otou-san would most likely be watching them now, especially since the police split into two main groups, the ones that worked with L and the ones who didn't. Dammit, if Light was stooping to those levels, she was going to one-up him.

"Light, didn't we agree that things like that wouldn't reach the living daylight? Or do you want me to _accidently_ tell Okaa-san about how you were dating two girls at the same time a year ago?" Sayu says dangerously and Light rolls his eyes.

"Look, that was mutually beneficial. Both girls wanted to date me because dating perfect Light Yagami is good for their social standing," Light says, rolling his eyes, "And they weren't willing to compromise. And anyway, that's not the point. The point is, that if I told you to plot the graph of 3x power 5, minus 4x power 3 plus 8x minus 3, would you be able to?"

"No." Sayu says honestly, and pushing away humiliating her brother to focus on Math and graphs and numbers.

(X)

Their dinner is mostly uneventful, but Sayu finds it difficult to act like normal with the cameras watching her. She really wonders where L's cameras are, because she really doesn't feel like changing with L or her dad or any of the other police members watching her. That was just sick. Luckily, Light filled in the conversation beautifully, by poking fun at her and she responded with the typical replies of annoyance. Her mother is laughing and to be honest, the TV is only really on as background noise. None of them are actually watching the show anymore, especially since Sayu's been so disinterested in celebrities for the past three months. Gods, two months. It feels more like an eternity since Sayu grew up.

She was laughing about some funny joke that Light had been making when the TV flashed with a NKK news report. "What's this?" she asked.

Light merely leant back and slowly chewed through his mouthful of noodles, specially bought from Saitama.

"In an effort to capture Kira, ICPO has ordered 1500 investigators from around the world to work in Japan." Sayu reads, still feeling vaguely in shock. This is bad. "That's really quite a large number of agents. I'm surprised they can actually work together, we know how badly the world is as cooperating with others."

Light however, seems unconcerned. "What a stupid move." He says casually, as he places his chopsticks down. He's just waiting for her to ask the question.

"Whatever do you mean? Aside from the difficulty it would take to make that many investigators actually cooperate." Sayu said, as she too placed down her chopsticks.

"A public announcement like this one is completely useless. If they really were investigating, they'd do it in secret. By announcing it like this, it's like they're asking for casualties. We saw how Lind L Tailor was killed. Kira obviously dislikes people trying to catch him. This is a clear indicator that either the police are stupid, which is true to an extent, but unlikely in a situation like this; that they're trying to raise moral, which is even more unlikely, since 60% of the population support Kira's actions, or they're trying to scare or bait Kira."

Sayu grins, she sometimes forgets just how brilliant Light was at explaining. "Well reasoned, nii-san. Four months not running errands for the police haven't dulled your investigative skills, I see."

"Don't be silly Sayu, it was just common sense. Anyway, if I could reason it out, it's a fairly obvious powerplay. Kira's probably laughing in their faces." Light says, taking another gulp of food down and standing up.

Sayu notes with surprise, that he's done already. "Done already?" she asks, as he places his plates in the sink. He then goes to the cupboard for some snacks.

"Chips immediately after dinner?" Sayu asks, craning her head backwards, "Careful, if you keep this up, my guess of you being a walrus at thirty is too large! You'll be a walrus by mid-twenties if you keep that up!"

"It's a study snack. It looks like another late night again." Light said, waving a vague farewell.

Sayu sighed, and went back to picking away at the noodles. Even if they are spiced from Saitama, she's barely ever hungry nowadays.

"Sayu." Okaa-san says, leaning forwards, "I didn't want to bring this up in front of Light, but when did you stop sleeping?"

Sayu feels her chopsticks fall out of her hands. How did Okaa-san know? Sayu had been nearly flawless in hiding the evidence and her light was never on at night, even when she was wide awake and reading beneath her sheets.

"You've stopped eating as much too. How long has it been since you've eaten all three meals?" Her mother notes. Sayu merely stares at her.

"Okaa-san?" she asks, feeling a little lost.

"Don't try and lie to me, Sayu. I tried the same makeup tricks as a girl, and you're very good, but you can't hide them from a professional. You haven't slept in days, you don't eat as much anymore, you're growing distant at home, and your friends have become so concerned about you that they actually called me to ask if anything was the matter with you. You've stopped listening to music and watching TV, and you're always locked up in your room or in Light's room. What's really wrong, Sayu?"

Sayu pressed a hand to her mouth. Had she really been so oblique? She supposed that all of that had happened. Light had always been distant, that was no surprise, and he was actually studying. She had to make something up and quickly, for else L would deduce the truth. She lets her shoulders sag for effect and stares at the table.

"To tell you the truth, it all just seems trivial nowadays. All of this everyday stuff. Doesn't seem worth putting effort into." She says, quietly.

There's a clatter and Okaa-san looks horrified, and she's dropped her chopsticks on the tablecloth. Sayu's suddenly aware what she sounds like.

"No! No, not that that! I'm not about to commit suicide or anything like that! Please don't think like that, Okaa-san! I couldn't do that to you or Otou-san!" Sayu says hastily and some of her mother's colour returns to her face.

Sayu smiles weakly. "It's...difficult to describe. It's…watching the world change and twist into a direction that people aren't sure about. It's seeing everything that Kira's doing and doing the research into the hows and whys of criminal psychology and trying to see if they really did deserve the fate that Kira doomed them to. Then, I go back to school in the mornings, and they're talking about clothes and shoes and celebrities and movies, and it isn't important, you know? It all seems so juvenile and who could I talk to this about other than Light?"

She's letting too much of the truth out, but it's too late now. She's linked it to Kira, which is the partial truth. The best lies are mixed in with the truth, she knows.

Her mother looks at her. "So this links back to Kira then?"

'Of course, it does!" Sayu exclaims, "How could it not? This is on everyone's minds nowadays, or it should be. Someone out there is murdering all of these people, and people can't even be bothered to wake up and smell the roses and see exactly how by trying to ignore it, they're doing exactly why he wants. And the rest of the world's stupidity is hurting those who can see it. You heard Light, 60% of the world supports Kira. The police aren't getting enough slack for doing what they're doing. And Otou-san's on the front lines. He's there fighting Kira every day, with his name and face for the whole world to see, and he could die any day on Kira's whims."

"You shouldn't worry about Soichiro." Her mother says instantly and Sayu flares up.

"Going to ban me from worrying about my father when you think about his safety all the time? And it's hardly like you're the picture of health, either. When I'm up getting some water, your light's always on. You're always waiting for Otou-san and you never sleep either. Shouldn't one more person praying for him make the spirits listen more?" Sayu asks.

"Soichiro wouldn't want you to worry." Okaa-san says, looking worried, "Not at the cost of your own health."

"Well, it's not just him. I'm worried for Light too. He's going to go to To-Oh with top grades and then go into the police force. They practically have a seat reserved for him already, especially after he solves two of the cases and ran errands for them all the time before he started properly studying. And he'll get straight into the Kira case, you know it. And then his name'll be out there and he'll be under the threat of Kira's wrath the whole way. And I don't want that for him. It's why I want to join the NPA myself. Someone needs to stop him from doing something ridiculously noble."

She doesn't think she's seen Okaa-san looking more shocked. "Sayu… the police… not you too?"

"What do you think I've been training so hard for? You hardly think it's for the sport's sake? If Light's going out there, he needs someone to tell him not to be an idiot about the things he neglects. That's me. And I want to, especially after seeing this. The police need every single hand they need, because they're so short staffed. If the police had enough people to be able to their job correctly, I doubt Kira would even exist."

"He would exist," her mother corrected, "He would just be another criminal killing innocent people for the fun of it, rather than someone claiming to be justice."

Sayu sighed. "Yeah. So I want to do this. It's why I've been doing more work, and because I'm consistently pumped on endorphins, I can never get to sleep at night, and when I do, all I can see are the pictures from some of the really gruesome criminal stuff I've been researching. I don't eat as much for the same reason, I never feel hungry anymore. My friends just don't; understand, I still like them, but they're like children, because they don't understand duty and what Kira's trying to achieve. They just want to see Hideki Ryuuga and listen to K-pop. Don't tell Otou-san, will you? He'll have a heart attack."

"Yes, he would, wouldn't he?" said Okaa-san, looking amused. "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret for now. You'll have to tell him eventually."

"I will. In another four years. Maybe longer." Sayu says, sounding as edgy as possible. Okaa-san laughs delightedly and they clear up the plates, turning off the TV. All was well, for now. And Sayu no longer even felt guilty for lying to her mother anymore. Her nightmares were almost completely gone. And Ryuk felt like a pet more than anything, even if he looked very disturbing as twisted up as he was now.

"Hey, I found all the cameras in your room. So, you need listen carefully, because I'm not repeating myself as to their locations." Said Ryuk and Sayu didn't even look in his direction as she grabbed her English book.

"Well then," she says, "I wonder what Wuthering Heights is like? Best start and find out."

All would be well. Sayu would see to that. She had no intention of her family cracking and splitting over this case. They would get out of this intact. Hopefully.

**AN: So, this is where I'm going to end this. I have so many plot bunnies about this particular plot and many ways where L or Light would alternatively win because of Sayu's influence. Of course, the main plot has already changed quite a fair bit. The FBI agents didn't die and therefore, Naomi Misora is still alive and has no reason to go after Light. Whether L will use her or not has been left up to debate. **

**Of course, because Sayu owns the Death Note, the whole 'Misa finding Light with her eyes' plot is obliterated, they'd have to meet at Note Blue. (I've never seen that explored either.) Sayu would temper Light's more violent tendencies and of course, the big question is if L would even give Sayu with her non-genius mind a second glance. **

**So yeah. Please, if you like this, do review. I love them. They're like mind-food and I start screeching and climbing walls the moment I see a comment or review in my inbox. **


	5. Alternative Visions

**Alternative Visions**

**Summary: What if Wammy's wasn't a genius farm What if it was a school for those with supernatural powers that need to be honed to be L, the world's best kept secret superhero? This story contains all of the main Wammy's characters, but mainly, Near. I think I like him too much. Told from Linda's perspective.**

Linda frowned as she heard another hissing noise from downstairs. That was usually a herald fo—Yep, there it was. The inevitable shriek. Typical Mello. Seriously, just because he could control fire didn't mean he needed to erupt every single time something didn't go his way.

Linda smirked, just a little; as she grabbed her sketchbook and ran down to see the commotion. She was aware that this wasn't normal in most schools, but then, this wasn't most schools. This was Wammy's School for Orphans, the secret orphanage for those whose extraordinary powers needed to be cultivated.

She can still remember when she first came here, the explanation that Mr. Wammy had given her. Every human had the capacity to do amazing things. It was the reason behind all of those stories that people heard on the news, about those who did incredible things when they were scared or in a position of peril. There was a certain power to humans, a certain awareness and ability to manipulate surroundings that made us so different to animals. However, this power was locked, behind the human inability to accept the supernatural and behind the need for normality. However, in some people, the specials, certain aspects to their powers were unlocked already and with time and practice their whole range of skills could be unlocked without fear or peril prompting their actions.

This was the case for most specials. However, everyone knew the story of L. He'd somehow been born with all of his powers unlocked and he'd been clever too, clever enough to focus on each one and learn to control it individually. By the time he was nine, when Mr. Wammy had found him, he'd mastered all of the powers that had been useful to him. It was said now, that everytime he discovered a new type of power, all he had to do was think about how it worked, and he was able to do it, albeit with next to no control. Linda envied L, in a way she hadn't thought was possible. It was so easy for him, being this special person.

Everyone here had their own story of how they'd made their way to the House. Some, like her and Matt had been found and rescued from abusive relatives by Mr. Wammy. Others had managed to make their way here in fear and sheer need, like Near, Laurence and Mello. Others, like Elpheba and the elusive B had walked up to Wammy on the street and told him that they were waiting for him. There weren't many happy stories here.

Linda ran down the stairs and grinned at the sight of Mello up in flames and Matt attempting to douse him down, with ice and water while Mello struggled against Matt's grip. This was so natural, people just instinctively avoided the water, or, if they were gifted the power to fly like Cindy, just floated up above the water. She had sketched this many a time, but it never quite managed to capture how surreal, yet aching familiar the sight was.

There was an absence of a victim however, so Linda almost snorted. "Who did you attempt to argue with, Hobbit, Zephyr or Laurence?" she asked. Hobbit had the habit of being able to turn invisible when he was terrified, Zephyr ran like the wind she was named after and Laurence could teleport to anywhere he liked.

"It was Hobbit." said Matt, with a sigh as Mello gritted his teeth. "Which is why Mello won't bloody give up and get iced!"

"I'm arsed if I'm letting you win this round!" Mello growled and pushed Matt to the ground with a vicious blast of fire.

Linda grinned and if she moved to the side a little and felt a little invisible arm brush past her, well, no one would notice in this commotion.

"Can you go tell Near that I'll be late to our group project?" asked Matt again as he flipped Mello over and attempted to freeze him to the ground. Everyone knew how pointless that was, of course, but, it still didn't stop them from trying to beat each other. How they were best of friends, Linda didn't know.

Linda nodded and ducked a particularly off-target blast of flame. Good thing the walls were fireproofed. She darted around the doors and groaned as she looked at where the stairs were supposed to be.

"Petrov!" she shrieked and the Russian boy stuck his head out from where he was hiding.

"Ja?" he asked.

"Why are the stairs in your likeness? As far as I'm aware, you are not shaped like steps." Linda said, looking annoyed.

"Because I beautiful, da!" he said, looking cocky. Gods, she disliked him and his inability to learn English properly. Well, no. She hated the fact that physical matter benders always seemed to want to change things around at the worst possible time.

"No, no, you aren't beautiful. Change them back to stairs, before Roger finds out, or more importantly, before I go all B on you, da?" she said, placing her hands on her hips.

"So fussy, Linda. Enjoy self! No rush! Be happy!" he said as the statue slowly morphed back into stairs. "Chillax, da?"

"Da." She said shortly, before racing down the stairs.

It always confused her though, why Mello pretended to be as out of control as some of the others, like Jason. Jason had no control over his ability to sense people's auras and was often overwhelmed by people's colours. Mello however, wasn't second place for nothing. His ability to control his fire was almost perfection. Everything he did was deliberately done, and that was because everyone had heard about how his sister had died. It was what the really brave ones whispered about on Halloween night, when everyone gathered in Concord's old room and told the scariest stories they could think of.

Mello's lack of self-control had lost him a sister, and now he did everything to make sure he wouldn't break like that again accidently. It was something admirable, if he didn't pretend to explode every hour,, and his control over everything he did was rivaled only by Near.

His room was shut. Linda knocked, hesitantly.

"Come in." he said, softly, and the door opened for her. Near was perched on his bed on the opposite side of the room and his large tarot card construction unbuilt itself and made a pathway for her, floating around her as she came in. The moment she passed them, they rebuilt themselves behind her. However, as he demonstrated these amazing shows of control and perfection, Near barely reacted; his small pyjama-clad body's only response, a small tension in his brow.

"Hullo Linda." He said, "Anything you need in particular?"

"Nothing much. Matt wanted me to tell you that he'll be late. Mello picked a fight with Hobbit, now Matt and Mello are brawling in the corridors again." She wasn't surprised about Matt's third place either, if she was honest. He'd perfected his skills, not out of any sort of sense of achievement, nor of duty. Merely, she knew that it was the art of self-preservation. Simply put, living around Mello was a dangerous hazard, and if Matt didn't know how to use his art…well, he'd be a fried crisp in the infirmary now.

Near sighed. "Again? That's the third time this week!"

"You know how Mello gets in the summer. All angsty and fired up. He's pretty interesting when he's like this, but he's not exactly with hazards either." Linda says. "Still, best that he'd cooped up in here, rather than burning through Winchester like last year.

Near winced, he too remembers the incident with the burnt down church last year, after Mello had been refused confirmation by the priest, after Mello had said that he couldn't tell the priest his real name. That had been horrendous. Needless to say, the orphanage had garnered its own little church where several kids went every Sunday.

"Shame though. I was hoping to get this project done sometime before the deadline." Near says, with a sigh.

"I think Mr. Famell should be used to it by now. If he's foolish enough to set group assignments that obviously won't work, he pays the price. At least he learnt not to put you and Mello together in a pairing." Linda grins and Near shakes his head, looking disgusted.

"Never again," he says darkly. Near doesn't have friends, she knows, but if he did, Linda would have been a close one. They were both quiet individuals that kept to themselves and as indoors as possible. Linda was bright and clever, even if her gift was underdeveloped.

"I hope not." Linda says and leans against the wall, grabbing her sketchbook.

Near goes back to tarot card construction. "Any news on how the hypnotism is going to access your talent?"

Linda frowns. "None. It hasn't done anything. I don't feel any different and my drawings aren't changing. I'm starting to think that the first two times were flukes, and that I'm actually locked or normal."

Locked was what happened to specials if they weren't careful. It was what happened when you depended on a stimulus too much to try and get your power to work. It was what had happened to A, she knows, and it had been the cause of A's eventual suicide.

"F was a late bloomer." Near reminds her.

"Yeah, but then F went crazy." Linda retorts.

"That was because he got involved with politics, not because he was a late bloomer." Near said, a wry smirk on his face, "One conversation with Harriet Harman and even I think I'd go stark raving."

Linda giggled, Near always knew how to stop her from falling into a mode of self-pity. Whoever said that he was an emotionless robot didn't know him at all. Well, it was Mello who'd coined the nickname. Course he didn't know who Near was really like.

"You should try by yourself, when you're all relaxed." Near said, as he set the tarot cards swirling around the room to create a battlesuit around him. "It's how I managed to get most of this working properly."

Linda sighed. "How though? None of the stimuli changes work."

"Yes, but did you actually ever really try in a control stage? One particular situation where none of the variables are abnormal? When you're comfortable and relaxed?" asked Near, as the tarot cards, stacked themselves neatly on a pile on the drawer next to the door.

"Aren't your powers supposed to activate when you're unusually stimulated though?" asked Linda.

"Your gift hasn't worked in those situations though. Maybe it's different." Near said.

The door opened and Matt walked in, his skin unusually red. "Mels finally gave up. Course, he gave me a nice 'tan' before he gave up. Shall we start now, Near?"

"Oh yes," Near yes, "Just, try not to conjure water over the work? I do remember what happened to your project with Zephyr last time."

Linda waved to Near and slipped out of the room, leaving the two boys to their project. But, Near had had a point. They hadn't ever attempted a control, which in hindsight, was a little dumb. Still, it was worth a shot.

Linda slipped back up to her room. Her project was all finished, thanks to Cindy being very efficient when it came to these things and refusing any help, which meant she had a lot of free time before evening lessons.

Comfort…what did Linda find comfortable? Linda ripped out the filled-up pages of her emptiest sketchbook and placed them inside her portfolio. She grabbed a new set of pencils and perched on her chair next to her desk. She propped up a few cushions behind her and set out the pencils in front of her. She leant back and attempted to relax.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm. Peace. Sunny Beaches.

…It wasn't working. All she felt was sleepy and expectant, and that wasn't going to stimulate anything. Linda frowned and glared at the paper. She got out of the chair again to push open the window; maybe some fresh air would do her some good. Once that was open, Linda drew the curtains, as the sunlight was almost furious in its intensity. She pulled off her cardigan and rolled up her sleeves before sitting back in the chair.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm. Peace. Breezy walks through the park.

…she never noticed how itchy and annoying her hair could be before. Linda growled, opened her eyes again and tied back her hair, inserting a few hairclips to ensure stability. She was a little hungry, now she came to think of it. Maybe that was preventing her from being able to concentrate. Linda quickly scanned her bag for food. Nothing. However, Elpheba tended to leave stuff lying around that was usually pretty useful.

There, peeking out of the shared stuff box, was a bar of Cadbury's milk chocolate. Dammit, what was that doing here? She thought that Jason had boycotted chocolate for a week, to see how Mello would be able to cope without it for his science experiment about the effects addiction on a person's aura? Still, what Jason and Mello didn't know, wouldn't hurt them. Well, it could, with harmful intentions, but Linda intended to draw, not hurt anyone.

She opened the wrapper and bit into the chocolate and savoured the creamy goodness. Ahh, the pure taste of chocolate. She knew that Elpheba tended to prefer stuff with caramel or nuts or fruit in them, but Linda had always preferred one overwhelming flavor in foods, to many distracting flavours.

Linda finished the chocolate bar and threw the wrapper in the bin, before settling back down in the chair. It was true that she felt a little more relaxed, but she was skeptical about this working.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm. Peace. Lazy days swimming around in the swimming pool….

Screw this. She was a normal. There was no other explanation for it. Simply, none other. Linda placed her head in her hands and felt a few tears seep through her eyes. She wasn't one for crying, but she loved it here at Wammy's. It was a school like no others, and even if some people could be really annoying, she'd felt at home here. Like she belonged, like she was welcome. People didn't like her at other schools, she was too perceptive and too eager to call out the fact that they weren't doing things properly. Too quick to call out that they weren't perfect and she knew now, that other people hated that. Though here, even if she slipped up, no one cared. Mello 'slipped up' every day. Jason still cowered into balls when things were too overwhelming, sometimes Cindy's concentration would slip and she would fall, sometimes Petrov broke stuff instead of made it. It was forgiven and shrugged off here. No one cared about these tiny occurrences, and that was perhaps why Linda loved it here.

Linda wiped away the small tears and grabbed her pencils. Best not to waste a good bit of paper. It may be her last drawing at Wammy's. Best to make it worth it. Linda set her pencil against the appear and started to draw the people she was friendly with.

Elpheba, her lovely roommate was drawn first. Then Near, her quiet companion. Mello and Matt were in the background, a large part of her life, even if unfriendly at best. Cindy and her quick, flighty ways, Zephyr and her tendency to chatter a million miles a second. Jason and his sensitive emotions and Laurence with his quick wit and thousand-watt smile_. She would really miss the-_

"Linda! Linda! She won't wake up. LINDA!"

Linda turned around and blinked. She could have sworn that there had not been a large amount of people here a few seconds ago. Only Laurence could teleport, and he could only teleport one other person at a time. So why was what seemed like the entirety of Wammy's House crowded inside her room?

Linda rolled her shoulders back and waved uncertainly. Elpheba slumped to the floor in relief and Cindy floated up to the ceiling in happiness.

"You're back!" she shrieked and a lot of people cheered. Back? She hadn't gone anywhere…had she? Now she thought about it, her hands hurt. A lot. And why was there paper all over the floor? Linda placed a hand to her head.

"What happened?" she asked, and her voice felt sore, as if she hadn't been using it for a long time.

"You...can't remember?" asked Elpheba then rolled her eyes, "Well, now I see that you can't."

"Remember what?" Linda asked, feeling bemused. "I was coming back from Near's room. I was trying to unlock my gift, but it wasn't working, so I started drawing you guys, a sketch for Art and then bam. There's a tonne of people in my room."

"That was three hours ago." Elpheba said. "I was in Technology and then your mind waves went completely nuts! I sprinted back here, and you were drawing like crazy. You kept muttering under your breath and you wouldn't snap out of it. I got everybody to try and help wake you up. We even had Roger in here a couple of minutes ago. He sprinted out to call somebody and then you woke up. Oh, Laurence! Go find Roger and tell him he doesn't have to do anything, she's snapped out of it."

"Yes boss!" said Laurence with a sharp snap and winked towards Linda, before disappearing.

"Glad to see you woke up." Matt said, with a grin from where he was playing a video game near the wall. "Petrov wanted to try and kiss you next; I think the pure horror of that must have shocked you out of it."

Linda shuddered a little and Petrov shrugged. "It work, da?"

"Nein. Nyet. No. I'm not kissing you." she said, shaking her hands and everyone laughed.

People started clearing out, offering praise and congratulations towards Linda as they trooped out. Finally, the room was mostly free apart from Near who was still leant against Elpheba's bed, twirling his hair and Elpheba who'd stood protectively next to her.

"How did you feel when you accessed your power?" he asked, blankly.

"Sad, I guess. Kind of happy as well, though. I just wanted to draw. I didn't even notice that time had passed. How's that even possible?" Linda appealed to him, as she twisted her hands about, to try and remove the cramps from them.

"You are drawing scenes from the future." Near said, "It's possible that for your brain, time stops."

Linda frowned. "I don't think it works like that. It's kind of like being replaced entirely, rather than it being a part of me that does all of this. I wouldn't ever mutter. You know it's a disgusting habit."

"What do you think you've drawn?" Elpheba asked as she picked up a scene of a train station and a man enshrouded by a hood standing behind a Westerner in a suit, who looked terrified.

"It's got numbers on the back." said Near. "I think you've labelled them in the order of chronological timing."

"Shall we organize them, then?" asked Linda, gathering up a few papers.

"Let me." Said Near and all of the papers flew up in the air so that Near could see the numbers.

"Here," Elpheba said, "Open your mind a bit; I'll give you a hand."

Elpheba's talent was that of the mind. She could project into people's minds as well as read their minds. Of course, that required a huge amount of concentration from her. It was because she could do two quite different things to do with the mind, she was in fourth place. Of course, as her control was still a little patchy and was often likely to snap, she wasn't higher than Matt, Mello and Near, who could only currently access one talent.

Linda stared as the papers started swirling around and arranging themselves into order. Both Near and Elpheba seemed quite lost in their thoughts. Linda wondered whether she'd looked like that when she'd accessed her trance-like state. It was weird that she couldn't even remember drawing these. They looked beautiful, better than most of her normal stuff. That was rather irritating, that her other-self could draw much better than she could.

"Done." Near said, looking a little tired, and the papers were deposited in her hands. Linda got up out of her chair and plopped herself next to him. Elpheba sat on her bed and peered over their heads.

"The first picture isn't labeled with a caption." Linda says, as she turns it over then brings it back. "Is it just me, or does it look like Japan? With the buildings looking that sleek…"

"It could be anywhere in the world." Near says, "Buildings like that are all over the world. But for some reason, I'm inclined to agree."

Linda flipped to the second page. "Here, no caption again, but that definitely looks like a Japanese school. Look at those uniforms. Unique to Japan."

"Centre of interest is the hot guy with brown hair." said Elpheba, coyly and Linda rolled her eyes.

"Don't be superficial, Elpheba. But you're right about him being the centre of interest, he's placed right where the page is darkest and right where the Rule of Thirds brings your gaze to him. We're meant to be drawn to him. But why?" Linda explained.

"Keep going, I'm sure we'll find out." said Near. "I'm inclined to believe that he's the centre of interest of all of these visions."

"He's on the next two, so I think you're right, Near." Linda said, taking a few out. "First with his…family? The resemblance is pretty distinctive. His sister, mother and father. They all look pretty overjoyed. He just looks dull and bored. That's really weird."

"No emotions? Sociopathic? Maybe he doesn't like them? Angry with them?" Elpheba suggests and Linda shrugs.

"In the next one, he seems to be studying. Lots of As in bright red. And there's a caption on the back. Japan's brightest student. Weird. You'd think he'd be happy with something like that under his belt." Linda said, shrugging.

"Things like that don't necessarily make you happy. He may think of it as a duty or dull or something he does for his parents, not for himself." said Near quietly. "Just because it would make you happy, doesn't mean it makes him happy. The grass has always been greener on the other side."

Linda nods. "That's true, I guess." She thought that he was speaking from experience there, but didn't pry. That was just rude and Near wasn't as close with Elpheba as she was. Near was deeply private, and even this much revelation was a miracle.

"The next one's strange. Why's he walking about so late at night?" asked Elpheba.

"Caption," Linda says, "Walking home after Cram School. Bloody hell, no wonder he's bored with studying. He goes to two schools! One's bad enough!"

"Normal schools are supposed to be really useless though." Elpheba says, "Maybe he needs to go to two different schools to keep himself entertained?"

Linda snorted. "Does he look entertained?"

Elpheba shrugged and Near tugged at Linda's sleeve with his mind. "Right, next one. Sorry Near. Okay, some guy is harassing some woman. Mysterious Student is in the background. Blimey, he looks livid! No caption though."

Elpheba clicked her tongue and Linda turned the page. "Fine Elpheba, stop being so—Gah!" There was a picture of the man and a red motorcycle being squished under a truck, with a lot of blood and jagged edges and sharp accentuated colours. Linda puts the photo down and leans her head back against the bed. Gods, that was disgusting. Why would she draw something like that?

There was a hand placed over hers and she noticed Near was staring straight at her. This was big; after his power had developed, Near preferred to not touch anything if he could help it. "How are you unaffected by that?" she whispered.

Near shrugged. "Criminal Psychology has pictures to go with most of their cases. Most are worse than this because they're real, not stylized art. You grow numb after a while."

Elpheba nodded. "Some of the Lapland Glacier case photos still give me nightmares. But once you figure out that it's just blood, it's nothing big."

Linda frowned. "You thought I was freaked out by blood? I was there when Total went into bloodlust three years ago and attempted to eat most of the littlies in tiger form. Blood isn't scary. The fact that this guy died because Mysterious Student was angry is. And…I can't imagine how painful that was."

The two of them looked at her weirdly. "What do you mean, the student murdered him? It's a car accident." Elpheba said.

"No, it's Mysterious Student. Why else would he be in the previous picture, looking so angry? Even if Mysterious Student didn't push the harasser guy into the field of traffic, it's no accident he just fell in. He must have wanted the guy dead, and he died. I think he's one of us." Linda explained.

"With powers like B?" asked Elpheba, looking scared.

Linda shuddered. "Hopefully not as crazy as B." she said. B had been a student at Wammy's House, and his story was one of the scary ones told in Concord's old room. He'd been able to control anyone if he knew their name and face. Mostly, he tended to do this to animals and for small simple things, but apparently, he'd met L in person, and had sworn to beat out L by any means possible. He'd gone onto try and create the perfect crime and while L had been stumped, some FBI agent hadn't been and had stopped him. She knew that the story had circulated from Mello, who'd apparently been told it by Watari after the Winchester Church Incident, to prove that normal people without powers could sometimes be ten times better than specials.

"Keep going, I want to see if you're right." Near said and Linda flipped the picture over.

The Mysterious Student was holding a wall for support, looking like he was going to be ill. "Caption, I wanted that man dead and he just…died. Could it have been…me? Am I able to hurt people like this? What can I do about it?" Linda paused and pressed her hand to her face. "This is appalling, think about how he must have felt. All of our powers are amazing and cool and useful in our daily lives, and his…he gets to kill people. How awful."

"Going to feel." Near said, quietly. When the two girls threw him looks, he elaborated. "This is in the future. He's going to feel this. We could still potentially prevent this from happening, or at least, if we can figure out his identity, we could ease him into using this power for good or controlling it entirely."

"Keep going." said Elpheba and Linda flipped the page again. Mysterious Student was manically grinning. The caption was on the front this time. "No," Linda read, "This is perfect. This world is rotten from the core…and now I know how to heal it. It may take my sanity and my life, but I'm going to change this world for the better."

Linda didn't bother to comment and moved on quickly before shrieking at the absolutely horrid creature in front of them. It had purplish skin and clown like features. It wore clothes like some kind of gothic rock star and there was a large metal heart hanging from its ear. "What the heck is that?" asked Elpheba, clutching the bed. Linda stared, every single detail was enhanced and vivid. It was her best drawing yet, so why did it have to be terrifying?

"Caption," Near said, as the card hovered out from her fingertips. "The name's Ryuk. I'm a shinigami. I freed your capacity to kill people because I was bored. What are you going to do now? This many people dead already? You work fast. Got any apples?"

"Shinigami?" asked Elpheba, "What are they, some kind of otherworldly policemen or something?"

"Troublemakers. Not policemen. Still, shinigami is a God of Death from Japanese culture…wonder why they have the capacity to free certain powers." Near commented.

"Do you think there could be other such types of people that can free other types of powers?" asked Linda, tapping a finger to her face pensively.

"Best to get through this first, before we truly get into discussion about what should be done and what possibilities there are." said Elpheba and Linda turned the next picture over.

The boy and the shinigami were walking in the street, with no one around them seeming to care, and the boy was smiling happily. "Caption. They all die by heart attacks, Ryuk. This is because I want people to realize there's a pattern. Also, if it looks like my powers are limited, it makes any deaths to the side more accidental and less likely to be pinned on me. This world's going to be cleaned up, and I shall be the god of the world remaining!"

Linda sighed. "Okay, any hope of him being normal and not crazy is now gone. God of the new world? Megalomaniac."

Elpheba pulled the next one out. Mysterious Student was furiously glaring at the letter L on the screen. "L?" she asked, looking baffled.

"Caption," Linda said, reading from what she could see, "Kill me if you can, Kira. Try and kill me like you killed Tailor. Go on. You can't do it, can you? Ha! I'll find you, Kira. You're in the Kanto Region of Japan. Just you wait."

"Taunting a mass murderer seems a little stupid." said Elpheba, looking at the picture again.

"It's exactly what I would have done in his position. Anyway, L wouldn't have done it if he wasn't confident that Kira couldn't kill him." Near said quietly, a smirk on his face.

The next picture was of 'Kira' looking incensed at the God of Death. "Caption," Linda said, "'Why couldn't I kill him, Ryuk? I've been able to kill every other criminal before!'. Then it changes over to the shinigami's speech, I think. 'Haha, yeah. I forgot to tell you. You need a name and face of the person you want to kill. You can do more, but you have to train yourself to get better at it. I unlocked the basics for you, but you can only get better with practice and stuff. You can control what they do before they die, as well.' Doesn't that sound a bit like B's gift?" Linda said, looking at the card with a mild look of disgust.

"A little." Elpheba said, pulling a face. "Though needing a name and a face. Pretty weird restrictions if you ask me."

Linda shrugged. "Could have been weirder." She flipped the next card over and blinked. The shinigami and the boy were looking behind him. "Caption. Look, I'm not telling you this because I support you, because I don't; I'm just a bystander, but there's been someone following you for the past few days, and it's starting to annoy me, because it feels like I'm being watched too. Do something about it."

She flipped to the next picture. There was a bus stop and Kira was hand in hand with a pretty girl who was kissing him on the cheek with the foreign man she'd seen on the first picture she'd looked at walking behind them. "Tough luck, Elpheba, he's taken." She said, grinning and Elpheba rolled her eyes.

"He's a criminal and crazy at that. Kind of difficult to love. Anyway, no caption?"

"Nope," said Linda and turned over the next card. There seemed to be someone whom everyone was cowering from at the back of the bus and there was a perspective of Kira holding a card with the foreign man's face and name on it, which revealed the FBI card. The perspective was brilliant, far better than her current skills. It was irritating, really irritating. At least this was something she could safely show to her Art teacher for credit. "Caption," she said, "So L used the FBI to monitor the families of the police to look for the leak….surprising, but perfect. I know just how to use this to my advantage. Say your goodbyes, Raye Penber, your life's up soon."

"Another clue about Kira's identity there." Near said, "He's the top student of Japan and he's related to someone in the Japanese Taskforce. And, there's no doubt about it anymore, we need to try and either prevent his power or cultivate it to our advantage, a way where he isn't killing people."

"But…" Elpheba said, "Doesn't he kind of have a point? He's killing criminals to make the world a better place."

"Yeah," Near said, pulling at his hair, "But he also wants to be the god of a new world and he seems to be willing to kill anyone who are searching for him, innocent or not. He's not who I want to be in charge of justice. If I must choose, I prefer our corrupt system to his judgment. At least there are no aspirations to godhood there."

Linda sighed. The next picture was one that was familiar. "Caption. I am Kira, Raye Penber. Tell me the names of your fellow FBI members, or your fiancée dies. I have the power; I'll have no qualms about doing it. Write them down on the papers in this envelope then ride the Shunjuku line the whole way around. Leave the envelope on the train."

They stare and look at the picture. "He's prepared." Linda says finally.

"No doubt that what he's writing on is going to be picked up by Kira afterwards, and there's nothing that this guy can do… Poor Raye Penber." Elpheba says, looking distraught.

"Keep going." Near says and Linda flicks the card over.

"He's eating potato chips? Why's that important?" she said. "Anyway, Caption. 64 cameras in my room alone? You're upping your game, L. But, you'll see. I'll beat you. With one hand, I'll do my homework. With the other, I'll take a peek at the mini TV, then take a potato chip and eat it! Just a shame that this LCD TV cost so much…"

Elpheba leant back and giggled. 'He's so melodramatic."

"He's winning though. L's still going to be clueless." Near said, "We have to show this stuff to him."

"Right." Linda says, and turns over the next card. The boy was standing outside the campus of To-Oh university, with a lot of sakura blossoms floating around him. It was a lovely floaty whimsical drawing and Linda traced it a little. "No caption." She says.

"He's a university student too. A recent one, so we'll find him when he's in high school and then he goes to To-Oh and a family member is a police officer." Near says, and a pen on Linda's desk along with some paper floats over to Near and writes those points down.

The next picture was of him speaking out to a crowd, along with a person with black hair in a t-shirt and jeans slouching next to him, looking unconcerned. "Who's that?" Elpheba asked.

Linda flicked over to the next picture and stared. They were shaking hands and the black-haired person looked almost evil in the lighting. "Caption," she reads, "I am L.' Then it changes to Kira's voice. 'Are you? Good for you. I greatly admire what you've been doing in the world.' Bloody hell, he's a good actor, this Kira person. Look, he doesn't even look surprised by this."

"Do you think L actually looks like that?" asked Elpheba, throwing the picture a wary look. "Or is it just a proxy."

"It's him." Near said, "If he was going to use a proxy, he'd use a more believable looking L. The police picture L to be a middle-aged man with a great amount of experience. If you were going to use a proxy, you'd play up to that stereotype, rather than pander away from it."

"Still, he could be using that idea, to create a more believable proxy." said Elpheba looking hopeful. But Linda shook her head.

"I think it's L. Because, B used to look like that in his last days here, that I remember pretty clearly. And Mello's story said that he was imitating L almost perfectly, right?"

Elpheba frowned. "Keep going."

Linda complied. The next page was of the two of them sitting and talking in a café. L was crouched like a monkey and Kira looked perfect as he stirred his tea. "Caption. I want you to join my investigative team, I've heard many good things from the police, about you. But first, I want to test your deductive skills. Here, take a look at these pictures. What are your conclusions?"

Here was a loud buzzing and the three of them started. "That's the dinner bell." Elpheba said. "We should finish look through these after dinner."

Near shook his head. "No," he said, "We should find L and show him. It's not worth keeping these to ourselves."

"But…" Linda said, "He'll most likely not let us examine them with him. We'll never get to see what happens in this story or to Kira. Besides, I wanted to keep some of those drawings."

Near pulled himself up with his mind. "We all have to sacrifice something. If it means we can't get involved, that's the price we've got to pay. What if this is happening now? We need to get this to him so he can do something about it."

Linda smiled sadly. "You're right, Near. As per usual. I'm being a little selfish I guess. Still, I'm really interested in this case. I hope L won't kick us off."

Elpheba shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, Linda, do you think you could bribe Matt with something so he'll hack into Roger's computer for L's location?"

"We could just ask Roger?" said Linda, looking a little confused.

"Nope, he won't tell us. Don't you think B tried that?" said Near, with a smirk. "Only two people keep tabs on Roger's room without him knowing and that's Matt and Tamara. Tamara's bribe prices are very high, but her quality is better. But we don't need quality here, we need results. So Matt it is."

"Bribe price is usually chocolate, so he can appease Mello." Elpheba said. "I think we had some."

Linda flushed. "Uhh, not anymore. I think that was the price for the visions too."

"Then what?" asked Elpheba, looking annoyed.

"We let him in on it?" asked Linda and Elpheba shook her head emphatically.

"Nuh-huh, Linda! You know that Matt will tell Mello and Mello will inevitably ruin our chances of getting to meet with L!"

Near however, looked pensive from where he was standing. "It might not be such a bad idea. Mello might be impulsive, but he isn't stupid. He'd want to eliminate this Kira as much as we do."

"Yeah," Elpheba said, darkly, "In a 'let's go kill him' eliminate."

Linda laughed. "Let's deal with this after dinner. I'm sure some food would help our mental capacities. And who knows, maybe we'll figure out some information that we didn't have before?"

(X)

"So, you want me to try and figure out where L is because of Linda's visions?" asked Matt, as he wrapped another tendril of ice around the blanket that he'd covered the hard drives with.

"Come on Matt, we wouldn't be asking, if it wasn't important." Elpheba said, looking annoyed.

Linda merely exchanged a look with Near and rolled her eyes. "Look Matt, I couldn't care less whether you believe us or not. We want some information. And we'll pay by getting you involved."

Matt smirked and leant back. "You seem be under the impression that I care about meeting L. I really couldn't care less."

"Yes, your apathy has already been noted." Near said, twirling his hair around his fingers. "However, think about how distracted Mello would be. How the fights would dramatically reduce in frequency if his attention was diverted elsewhere. And Mello is very interested in becoming the next L. If anything, call it practice for hacking. I believe as of now, Tamara is still more talented than you."

Matt quirked an eyebrow at them, before he grinned. "You've got me there, Near. Okay, I'll give it my best shot. Give me a few minutes, Roger's passwords are easy to guess, because it's always whichever bug book is open on his desk. It's L's actual firewall that's tough to crack."

There were a few moments of blissful silence and Elpheba settled on the ground, massaging her brain. Linda grabbed her pencil and started to sketch Matt at work, his right hand tapping away the keys, while his left wrapped ever more ice around his hard-drives.

Near tapped her on the shoulder. "Linda," he asked, 'Do you think you could control what you see? You could draw us L's location."

"Near, I only just managed to get it work for the first time in over five years. Do you really think I have the capacity to control it to that extent yet? And in any case, we want where L is currently located, not where he will be in the future." Linda said, scathingly. "For something like that, you'd want someone like Laurence combined with Jason. Kinda. I guess. Why didn't we ask Laurence?"

"Because Laurence can only teleport to places or people he personally knows or has a picture of?" asked Near, lifting an eyebrow. Linda sighed. Sometimes, his habit of always being right was slightly annoying. Only slightly though.

"Done." Matt said, not turning around. "He's in Bangkok. Specifically, he's staying in the Sivatel Hotel for now, though he plans to change hotels in three days. It was easier than I thought, though this could be a decoy."

Near nodded. "Okay, time to bribe Laurence to get us there. Thank you Matt. We will come and fetch the two of you when we have managed to acquire—"

"No need to acquire anything, he's coming here." Elpheba said, not looking up from where she was hunched.

Laurence popped into the room. He waved towards Linda and Near. "You called?" he said, turning towards Elpheba.

"Matt, can you show Laurence a picture of the hotel?" asked Near and Matt complied easily, turning the computer around to show a grand looking place.

"Can you teleport us all in turn to this hotel?" asked Elpheba. Laurence stepped up towards the computer and peered at it, squinting at the screen. He then stepped back easily.

"Sure, I can. For a price. It ain't much; I just want the answers for Korean 2's homework." Laurence said easily.

Linda smiled. "I've done that already. It should be in my assignment cubby."

"Thanks, Linds!" he said, tossing her a grateful grin. "Who wants ter go first, then?"

They all exchanged looks. "Best if Linda goes first," Elpheba said, "She looks the most normal."

Linda glanced around them. Matt was in his usual stripes and jeans, but he was wearing goggles and his brownish hair was looking almost green after the camouflage session from yesterday. He didn't look too abnormal, but he wasn't exactly the most sociable person ever. Elpheba was dressed in her usual tracksuit bottoms and hoodie, but her funky 3D glasses didn't exactly make her look too normal and anyway, she looked pretty terrified. Near…well, there was no point in asking Near to even try being normal and Mello wasn't even here yet.

"Fine." Linda says, smoothing out her t-shirt. She didn't exactly look like someone ready to be walking into one of the richest districts of Bangkok, but she was more normal than the others. "'Ready when you are, Laurence."

Laurence hooked his arm through hers. "Shall we?" he asked, before twisting on the spot. Linda felt the most debilitating sensation, like being squeezed through a tunnel and stretched out at the same time. They finally stopped and Linda had to lean against Laurence to stop the dizziness.

"How do you do this everyday?" asked Linda as she stood up, shakily.

"I find that it affects other people more than it does me. I can hardly feel anything." Laurence said cheerily. "I'll be right back!" he chirped, before looking left and right in the atrium, before disappearing. Linda straightened herself out and pulled at her t-shirt. She straightened tall and smiled charmingly, before walking up to the front desk.

"Excuse me; I'm looking for a Watari? He'll be on one of the higher floors. I need to talk to him. It's an urgent matter." Linda made her words annunciated in her best Thai.

"I'm afraid we don't have a Watari in our hotel. Perhaps you have come to the wrong place?!" said the receptionist, beaming a little. But Linda had seen the tenseness in her shoulders and the fake smile. No, Watari and L were definitely here.

"No, I'm not mistaken. Send him a message. Tell him that Linda from Wammy's is here to see him. He won't refuse." She said, placing her hands on the counter.

The lady looked a little scared but called upstairs, nonetheless. Behind her, she heard footsteps and she turned around. Elpheba was clinging to Near, who looked a little green himself, but mostly annoyed.

"Mello declined." He said, quietly. "He was too skeptical and certain that we wouldn't actually get to see L, but then, it's a rather far-fetched story."

"For someone who can make fire appear out of thin air? I don't think so. He was just being contrary." Linda whispered.

"Perhaps." Near said back to her, before turning around. "Either way, Matt says we owe him chocolate." It occurs to her that they must look pretty weird standing in the reception of this smart and modern hotel. Elpheba's weird 3D glasses, Near looking a little like a white ghost and the artist in her pencil-smudged skirt were very out-of-place.

"We'll need a room to ourselves for tonight. I doubt that we'd be able to contact Laurence again today. He's most likely already turned off his laptop, and Elpheba can't reach him at this range." Linda said quickly and Near looked a little surprised.

"Right. Yes. We'll need money for that, though." He said, looking vaguely surprised that the thought had bypassed him entirely.

Linda isn't surprised; she knows that wasn't what was on Near's mind and most likely, never would be. He may have been meticulous about things like winning the chess games and knowing the exact process of cellular respiration, down to the last molecule, but he'd never know anything about train timetables, how to properly balance accounts and money nor how to cook or clean or anything practical. It's a shame really, Linda thinks, but, isn't that what the rest of the world was for? To deal with the practical stuff? Leave the philosophy and the innovation to those who had the ability.

She turns towards the lift as it descends and she grins just a little as she sees Mr. Wammy approach from the opening doors. Usually, she'd hug him and Cindy would pester him with her flying and Elpheba would read his every thought and annoy him, but she's trying to be mature here. And not scare him even further.

"Linda, Near, Elpheba." He says, and his voice is warm, but it sounds stressed and slightly clipped.

"We are here because of these." said Linda, taking her pictures from Elpheba, who's holding them, and massaging her head. "My ability finally manifested…and it brought a rather disturbing tale with it. We only viewed around a quarter of them, but the trend and story unfolding was too disconcerting to be ignored. L needs to see this."

Mr. Wammy sifted through the photos quickly and nodded. "L will find this interesting. However, by your appearances…I assume that you want to see him?"

"There is information that we have deduced that we wanted to be sure that he was aware of." Near said quietly.

"Also, we didn't finish." Linda adds, "So, we'd like to. Kira's one interesting person."

Mr. Wammy nods and smiles reassuringly, before going to talk to the receptionist. She looks fairly intimidated, but seems to be smiling by the end of the conversation, and Linda's sure that she saw money exchange hands.

Elpheba seems to be recovering from her headache and she's grinning now. "L seems really interested, Linda. He thinks he may be able to figure out the identity of Kira soon from what we pieced together. He'll be sending Aiber to help him."

Linda gasps and stares at Elpheba. No wonder she'd seemed in pain. She'd been communicating with L!

"Is Aiber not the criminal that could change his shape and body at his whim?" asked Near, as he pulled at his hair, "The Forger Case throughout the West Indies, I believe was his handiwork."

"Yes," Elpheba answers, "But he works for L now."

Linda feels a little out of her depth. "So, Kira won't be killed then? He'll just be taught how to use his talents?"

Elpheba pulls a face. "The connection's snapped again, like it always does when I do long-distance. Ask him again when we get up there." She says, as they all piled into the lift.

Linda smiles a little and grabs Mr. Wammy's hand as the lift goes up. She may be an intelligent and precocious seer, but she's still eleven years old and Mr. Wammy is still the closest thing she has to a father figure. "Have you been busy?" she asked, "I've been wondering about all the cases that you and L have been doing."

Near rolls his eyes a little and she almost sticks her tongue out at him. Just because he was mature enough to conduct his entire life without needing a parent figure, didn't mean everybody could function that way.

"We've been busy, but it's been good work. I assume that you've all heard of the terrorist attacks down in South America? We managed to capture and imprison all of them."

"Well done." says Near, blankly and there's really nothing more to be said after that blatant dismissal. Linda wonders about his opinion of L. She's always assumed that he's admired L, like she and Mello and countless many do, but Near doesn't seem overjoyed to be meeting L, only seeing it as a means to an end. She wonders, if they'd had the resources to be able to catch Kira by themselves, whether Near would have even though about L as someone who would be able to help them.

The lift dings and the doors open to a darkened, but impressive looking room. There are computers and TVs set up all over the place, all glowing and there was a low constant stream of sound. On a chair in the middle, was the outline of somebody. The chair wobbled, hovered in mid-air and tipped over. Someone fell out and Linda winced a little. Near snickered softly and she saw the chair and the person restore to their original positions.

"Thank you, Near." said a clear voice in English, "It is nice to see that your control over your gift is airtight. It is what you would expect from a co-worker."

The person walked towards them a clear hunch in his shoulders. He comes into the light and he looks exactly like the pictures that Linda had drawn. The long, messy black hair, the long and sunken face, with large bags under his eyes. He wears a simple white shirt and jeans, and he doesn't even seem to look like he can smile.

"Elpheba," he says, greeting the Indian girl before turning to Linda. "And Linda. May I see these pictures that have caused such a commotion?"

Mr. Wammy hands over the pictures before waving and walking away. Linda feels very self-conscious.

"These look quite professional, Linda. Very impressive." says L, before stalking off towards his seat and his computers. He climbs onto his chair and perches there. The three children exchanged glances.

He throws them a confused glance. "Aren't you coming? We have a case to discuss."

Linda grins and walks forward. Things were going to be just fine.


	6. Insert Generic Adventure Title Here

**Insert Generic Adventure Title Here**

******Summary: Light Yagami has been bored for as long as he can remember. So when he bumps into a mysterious blonde woman carrying a photo of he and his sister Sayu, whilst walking home one night, Light feels compelled to investigate. Before he knows it, he's roped into aiding L's investigation about a drug cartel, though Light is speculative as to whether his help is actually required...**

Light sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Yagami Light was 18 years old and had started To-Oh University, the most distinguished Japanese University. The perks of having the chief of police for a father, he supposed. Though, it wasn't just the money; Light was currently the top student of Japan and was in the top ten students of Asia. He'd been a previous junior tennis champion and a chess grandmaster for a period of two years before he'd been unable to attend. Yet, he was tired of life, at such a young age.

Light smoothed his hair down as he rounded a corner and ducked under a signpost. He was bored, if he was honest with himself. A tram home would have been quicker, but he'd wanted the stimulation of doing something.

He'd only just started part time work at the NPA and he'd been very excited about it, hoping for a challenge, something interesting or new or novel to learn. Yet, it was just more of the same stuff, the same old subjects with the same old topics, only in more detail, and Light was bored out of his wits. He was ever, continuously bored. Ennui, Languor, Tedium, Disinterest, Monotony, Dreariness. He really wasn't sure any of those words really described the emptiness that Light felt. Surely there was something more that the world wanted for him?

He knew that his parents were worried about his education and were trying their best to make sure that he was kept entertained, but it was more difficult to find entertaining things. He'd thought that the police cases that he'd managed to sneak out of his father's briefcase and solve would be interesting; and they were, to an extent, but Light wanted to do more with his mind.

Light was about to cross the bridge when a woman wearing leather bumped into him as she attempted to cross the road. She was blonde and wore sunglasses, even this late at night. She wore a furry hat and her nails were fake manicured ones and she was clutching a zebra-print handbag and lots of files that scattered all over the street.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, in slightly accented Japanese. Light stopped to help her collect the pictures and files that had scattered everywhere. Suddenly he caught a glance of a very familiar family picture of Sayu, his lovely little sister, and him. What was that doing there?

"It wasn't a problem," Light said, responding in English, not reacting to the picture outwardly. "You look particularly burdened. Do you need any help in transporting this anywhere?"

The woman looked quite surprised and placed a manicured finger to her ruby-red lips. "That's kind of you to offer. If it isn't too much trouble…" she answered back in English that was very obviously British English.

"None at all. I was kind of aimlessly wandering anyway." Light said, faking a nervous laugh, as he placed a hand to his hair. He took the files from her and extended his other hand towards her, knowing that it was a western custom that she would be more familiar with. "Yagami Light. Written with the kanji for moon."

She grinned, a catlike smile that wasn't entirely friendly. "Wedy." She said, shaking his hand smoothly. "I hope you're a fast walker." She said, as she strode across the pavement. Light quickly caught up to her and silently wondered how she was managing to walk at this pace with the 5-inch heels she was toting. Goodness knew that the girls at the university complained about how difficult they were to function in.

"You're not originally from Japan, are you?" Light asked, easily.

"You're a curious one, aren't you?" she asked, smoothly as they walked through a crosswalk at a ridiculous speed.

"Just wondering what an attractive and sophisticated woman such as yourself is doing walking around all by herself at this time of night." Light said smoothly, using the same tones as he did with Takada and the countless other girls he'd dated. It was partially the truth, just phrased in a more appealing manner and leaving out the main cause for interest.

"Careful what business you get involved with, kid. Don't you know playing with fire's dangerous?" she asked, her voice teasing and sly.

Light suppressed a roll of his eyes, merely contented himself with a recitation of what he'd gleaned from her. "Your nails indicate you've never worked a day in your life, but they're fake from the slight smell of glue and the fact that your fingers are callused in all the wrong places for a life of luxury. You're wearing sunglasses at this time of night, which means that they're hiding something, you're insecure about something to do with your eyes, which is unlikely or they're an alternative 'cooler' type of glasses, mostly likely some kind of camera feed. Your dress is brand new, no lint or stains or anything. This isn't anything too strange, but then your shoes and your hat are also new, 'off-the-shelves' kind of new, which indicates that you're either on a shopping spree which doesn't look likely since there are no shopping bags or that you're wearing these types of clothes for a reason. Combined with the fact that your hair is bleached blonde rather than naturally blonde and that you aren't from around here, I'd say that you're either a spy or a criminal. I say spy, because you have a photo of myself and my sister amongst your files and that you haven't interrupted this whole spiel at all, because you were expecting it, correct?"

'Wedy' smirks, looking like a cat that'd gotten the cream. "Interesting. I knew that you were smart, but that was like having Sherlock Holmes analyze me. The only thing you missed was the fact that I'm armed."

"No you aren't." Light said, looking at her. "Your handbag isn't an ideal location because it'll take too long to retrieve, your clothes are frankly too skintight to hide any kind of firearm and your shoes are too skinny to hide something in their heel. Unless you've got a knife hidden in your hat, you're not armed."

Wedy grins, and it's positively delightful to see. "I was lying." She says, and starts walking at a faster pace. "And for your information, out of spy and criminal? It's both."

"You haven't answered the question of why you have a picture of myself and my sister." Light said, catching up with her and gripping her shoulder.

"You never asked." She said again, adjusting her sunglasses as she turns around to look at him.

"It was implied." Light drawls, flicking a piece of his fringe out of his face. Light was always confident about his appearance, but something about being coolly examined by this woman was strangely uncomfortable and Light had to resist the urge to check that he was truly immaculate.

"Not here. It's not secure." She says, and they reach a bright red sedan. Light feels his eyebrows rise, despite himself.

"You certainly fulfill the criteria of a spy." He said, and the sarcasm was biting.

"People expect spies to be nondescript." She says, she clicks the car open and beckons him inside. "I like to break the stereotype. As long as there is something about me that is very noticeable, the rest of me fades out of existence. They'll remember blonde foreigner with red sedan. Next time, I'll have brown hair and a white car. Bam, a whole new person."

Light stares at the car door distrustfully. "Spy and Criminal are two very different applications of the same skills. Which type do you conform to more often?"

"Criminal." She says, smirking, as she settles into the leather seats. Light exhales deeply. He _had_ wanted to not be bored. Light throws her a disdainful look, and gets into the car.

(X)

"Where are we headed?" asked Light, as the car took the highway route away from the Kanto district.

"Yokahama." said Wedy, as they sped down the highway.

"Any way you'd be able to tell me why my sister and I are in your files now?" asked Light, as he discreetly sent a text to his mother saying that he wouldn't be coming home tonight and a text to Yamamoto to back up his story.

"Still not secure enough." said Wedy shortly, "I haven't swept the car for bugs yet in the past hour. And Ryu- my employer would probably have a seizure if I broke security protocol."

"Hmm." Light said, as he leant back into the very soft leather seats, "I think you just want to kidnap me."

"If you'll recall, you offered to help me with my things. I could accuse you of the same." She said, the corner of her mouth quirking up a little.

Light smirked, the banter was certainly amusing. He hadn't been this entertained in a long time. "You're the criminal."

"I said spy and criminal. I just veer towards criminal more often. Criminal talents are more useful to the authorities than a spy's talents." said Wedy, as she removed her sunglasses and replaced them with a less flashy design. He caught a pair of green eyes before her new pair obscured them one more. "After all, there are many spies being trained by the government. There aren't many criminals who've redeemed themselves."

"Thief and/or hacker?" asked Light, conversationally.

"Hmm, yes. I'm guessing you're the bored detective hacker with a side portion of genius." She said, a languid smirk on her face.

"What an accurate guess!" said Light, playing his best acting skills on his face to sound genuinely surprised. She chuckled and revved up the speed as they reached an empty patch of the road.

"So, employer?" asked Light, "Particularly fussy, is he?"

"Not really." Wedy says, "He's right about security issues. It is how we've been foiled before, so we're very cautious about it."

"Therefore, I only saw those pictures because you wanted me to." said Light immediately. "You needed my help for some reason."

"Correct." Wedy said. "I won't say much else now, but you'll most likely have heard of my employer because of your father."

Light faked a look of sadness. "And there I was, feeling flattered."

"Please, from what I've read about you, a few notches downwards on your ego would do you some good." She says, as she reaches towards the glove compartment. "By the way, do you mind if I smoke?"

Light grimaces a little. "They'll kill you." He warns, "But if you must, can you do it out the window, please?"

"So polite, you Japanese." She says, as she takes a white cigarette out of the expensive-looking packet, "I'll be sure to."

"Didn't take you for a smoker. You were lacking the yellow fingernails and overall flat look." Light said casually, leaning his head out of the newly opened side windows.

"Newly started." She says as she leans out of the window. "For a role. First tenet of the spy; live the cover."

Light nodded and pulled at his hair. "Live the cover…do you not usually dress like this then? What do you dress like?"

There was no answer and Light left it at that.

(X)

"Here we are," said Wedy, as they stepped out of the car. They were currently in a large underground basement with just enough room for the car. She stepped through the door on the opposite wall, and Light followed her into a modern looking building. She was clutching some kind of black device in her hands and clicking at various points of the room.

"Disabling the bugs?" he asked and she nodded.

Light grinned. "This isn't your home then, correct?"

"I'm a thief for a living, Light, what did you expect?" she said, as they crept up the stairwell into a very posh looking apartment.

Here, she flicked open a computer in the front lounge and motioned for Light to take a seat. The screen flashed white and Light raised his eyebrows at the letter L that appeared on the screen. "Your mysterious stuffy employer was L, the famous detective?" he asked.

"I would appreciate not being called stuffy." said the computer, through a robotic voice filter, "But yes, I am Wedy's employer."

"What do you need my help for?" asked Light; being contacted and asked for help by the most renowned consultant detective in the world was just a tad odd. "And why are you investigating my sister and I?"

"Your sister is suspected to have links to a drug cartel that I have been chasing." L says flatly and Light feels his jaw drop despite himself.

"I'm not going to say that she can't, or that it's impossible, but it's certainly unlikely. Her time is occupied with extra English classes and running and swimming practice. I hardly see her having the time to take drugs. Especially since she shows none of the warning signs of most drug use." Light says, as he muses over the problem.

"I said that she was linked to them, not that she was part of the cartel, or even using the drugs that the cartel sold." said L's voice, sounding slightly impatient, even with a voice filter. "We have reason to suspect that Miyake Emiko, one of your sister's closest friends, is a member of said drug cartel. We want to see if our organization can get close to her and somehow infiltrate the drug cartel."

Light nodded and grinned just a little as he saw the flaws in the plan. "You won't be able to because you don't have operatives that are young enough, correct?"

"You are as quick as the NPA have indicated." said the voice, sounding even a little appraising. Though, Light could have been imagining things. "I do in fact, have an operative young enough, but I will need your help for him to assimilate and seem like a normal Japanese person. He's not exactly the most… inconspicuous person that ever was. His name is Mello. He should be in the room already."

"Already?" Wedy said, looking a little annoyed, "But the door hasn't been opened and none of the cameras detected anything!"

"That means Matt and I succeeded in escaping detection." said a voice from the corner of the room and Light whipped around. A young boy wearing leather with chin-length blonde hair strode out from the rooms that seemed to be from further inside the apartment. "I have to say, the people you picked aren't great with food. There's nothing in the fridge."

"Yes, because they're on vacation for a whole two months. It's unlikely they'll leave food around. And how the heck did you get in? The doors are untampered with and the windows are trapped. That's a serious security breach!" Wedy snapped, tapping her heels on the ground. Light wondered briefly whether the two people were related, before remembering that Wedy's hair was bleached and the boy's wasn't.

"No one else'll be able to get in my way." The boy said as he perched on the arm of the sofa, "I came in through the air ducts. There's a blind spot on the top of the apartments and I got in. I sealed it up after I got in though."

Wedy however seemed mollified by this. "And exactly how long did that take you?"

"The moment you got in your car, I started going in." said the boy, scowling. "I only just got out ten minutes ago."

"Let me guess, you got stuck halfway down?" she said, as she pulled out another cigarette with a smirk.

The boy glared at her balefully and Wedy merely took a drag of her lit cigarette.

Light coughed a little. "As amusing as watching the two of you banter is, I've a limited amount of time to get stuff done. What do I have to do? He already speaks Japanese and seems to be dressing in some appropriate trending things. My sister has clothing like that somewhere, when my parents aren't around."

"I lied a little Yagami-kun, he will need your help to be able to infiltrate the group. I need you to introduce Mello to Miyake and make him seem somewhat mysterious. Mello will be able to do the rest. Mello will also be attending To-Oh as a month-long transfer student." said L from the computer. Light tapped a finger to his face.

"Passing him off as a university student may be a little tricky. But I'll try my best. Got a time limit for when I need to hook him up with Miyake?" Light asked as he traced a pattern on his face.

"A week, if possible." said L and Light nodded.

"Seems reasonable. I'll see what I can do, and I'll inform Wedy if that isn't possible. Now, it's almost 1am, I think I'll be heading off to bed." Light said calmly, as he rose from the couch. "Wedy, is there a room that I can stay in? It's a little late to go speeding back to Tokyo."

"Second door to the right should be free." Wedy said, as she rummaged amongst a small bookcase against the wall. A non-descript grey file was handed to Light. "This is Mello's cover. You should probably memorize that so you don't slip up."

Light opened it and glanced at the name. "Mark Kagome? Half Japanese…seems a little tricky to pass off as; you don't look Japanese in the slightest."

"But I can speak Japanese and as long as I can imitate your actions, I'll act like a half Japanese person too." Mel-Mark said, flicking his hair. Best to address him by his codename until the cover was firmly established at Light wouldn't slip up.

Light stared at him a little before shaking his head. "We'll be getting up bright and early. 6:30am, sharp, out of the door. The rush-hour traffic is mayhem. Wedy, will you be driving us?"

"Nope." She said, easily, as she took off her hat and bag, placing them on the couch. "I'll have surveillance work to do. But you're more than welcome to take the car. Park it where I did tonight and I'll send someone over to get it back here. Night night, Light."

Light waved to her and strode off to his room. Be careful what you wish for indeed. Babysitting the blonde teen with an awful sense of fashion was not Light's idea of fun. But…it was hardly going to be boring either.

(X)

Light finished eating the meagre breakfast swiftly and adjusted his tie. It was the same suit as yesterday, which meant that he'd have to stop off at his house before he went to To-Oh. Wearing the same suit might have worked for others, but Light was the model student and people would notice and talk about it. Combined with the novelty of a new exchange student, people would be suspicious and adverse rumours would spread around campus, which would be very unfortunate indeed.

Mel—Mark strode back into the room and he seemed to be wearing an even more outrageous leather combination. Light lifted his eyebrows and stopped himself from laughing too hard. "You honestly think they'll let you onto To-Oh campus wearing that?"

"What's wrong with this?" he asked, pulling at his red jacket with fur lining that puffed out around his hair. He wore a mid-riff leather top and lace-up (lace-up!) leather pants.

Light couldn't help but laugh weakly. "The problem is that you look like a prostitute, not a hardworking student that would achieve the kinds of grades required to be able to go on an exchange trip. Also, they won't allow you on campus looking like that. And my reputation will be so dented by walking around with you in that get-up…there are a variety of reasons, so just get something else that actually looks normal."

Me-Mark scratched his neck, looking defensive and angry. "I don't have much else that fits, okay?! This is pretty much all I wear, along with jeans and hoodies when it comes to looking inconspicuous."

Light felt his face twitch just a little. "You have money, don't you? A credit card?"

Mello nodded, looking unsure. Light grinned. "Good. Just be thankful I have a free period this morning. We're going to make some designer suit companies very happy."

(X)

It was 9:50 in the morning when Light strode into To-Oh, with a very unhappy looking M-Mark Kagome, who was dressed in a grey suit, at his side. Light smiled at the people who greeted him and bowed his head at them. Mello just observed and sulkily slouched beside him.

"Hey Yagami-kun!" came a voice from behind them. Light whirled around and grinned a little.

"Hello, Yamamoto-kun!" Light said and bowed properly. "You still haven't returned my New-Years card."

"Forget about that. What was last night about? Just randomly calling me to keep your cover story with your parents intact? What the heck?" asked Yamamoto.

"I had a date, last night. It slightly overran, is all." Light said, modestly and Yamamoto looked impressed.

"Already? I thought you'd only just started dating Takada?" he said.

Light faked looking a little guilty. "It wasn't Takada."

Yamamoto gaped. "Come on, Yagami-kun, leave some girls for the rest of us!" He seemed to then notice Mello. "Who's this?" he asked.

"This is Kagome-san. He's a transfer student from America. He's here for about a month or so. He's here to learn Japanese culture and extend his learning." Light said easily. "For the moment, he's trailing me, since we're taking the same majors."

"Nice to meet you Kagome-san!" said Yamamoto, bowing quickly.

"And you too." Mello said, looking upwards with a shy looking smile, "But please, call me Mark; being called by my surname makes me feel like I'm being told off by my high-school teacher again!" Light was impressed, the acting was almost completely natural; he'd sounded genuine in his statement, yet Light was sure that he'd never attended high-school, coming from England and not America.

"Tell me about it! Yagami-kun won't understand though; he's never been told off once in his life, Mr.-Perfect-in-every-subject." teased Yamamoto. Light faked indignation.

"Don't be silly, Yamamoto-kun! Do you know how many times Fujiwara-senpai got angry with me? I swear I have a permanent white-spot on my forehead, where he's chucked chalk at me so many times. 'Yagami-kun, pay attention!' 'Yagami-kun, don't fall asleep' 'Yagami-kun, you're our star! Don't let our cram school down!'" Light mimicked his teacher perfectly and Yamamoto was in fits of laughter and even Mello seemed a little amused.

"Yagami-kun!" Takada said, as she sidled up to him, "Aren't you coming to Yukita-hakase's lecture about Criminal Profiling?"

"Yes, I am, Takada-san." Light said, kissing her cheek, "Come on, Mark, it's in the auditorium, which is on the other side of campus. See you around, Yamamoto-kun!"

"Who is this?" asked Takada, giving Mello a cool glance, as she tucked her arm around Light's. Light resisted the urge to shake her off.

"Kagome Mark. Transfer student from America for a month or so. Do Japanese people never address each other directly?" asked Mello, looking a little impatient.

"It's considered more polite to let yourself be introduced by the mutual acquaintance," said Takada icily.

Mello looked a little angry, before smirking. "Of course, Takada-san. I'll keep that in mind." He said, calmly, looking just a little dangerous. Light didn't intervene and kept walking, nodding towards Kitamura-san who waved at him cheerily.

"Mark, have you got any supplies? I know that we left in a hurry this morning." He said, easily.

"I've got paper, though I'll have to ask for a pen. What're the topics of this particular profiling?" he asked, sounding more professional than Light had ever seen him be.

"I think we're investigating some of the more brutal serial murderers; the Lapland Glacier, the hate crimes in South Africa, the Shyster's work through Germany and Eastern Europe, the LABB case and a few others." Light said, reciting the list from memory, not sounding particularly interested. He wasn't, if he was honest, he'd studied those cases a long time back.

Mello pulled a face. "Okay then, boring stuff."

"Boring?!" exclaimed Takada, looking mortified, "How can you say that's boring! These are some of the most horrific crimes of the century!"

Mello rolled his eyes. "I've studied most of them already, that's why. Anyway, it's not like their motivations are hard to figure out."

Light refrained from throwing Mello an appraising look. Still, the kid was younger than him and had already studied these? Interesting.

Light strode into the auditorium and grabbed his usual middle row seats. Takada sat on one side of him and Mello slouched at the other. Light didn't really need to take notes, but it was best to keep up appearances and at least look like he was paying attention. Takada seemed to pay Light no mind as she scrawled her notes down as quickly as she could and Light felt his mind wander a little. The Lapland Glacier case was one that he'd hacked into and followed as the case went along for the full 48 hours that it had run with his father at its head. He didn't need to know the censored, public version when he knew the police version. However, while Light at least put on an appearance of paying attention, Mello looked like he was almost asleep across his desk.

Light didn't bother to poke him awake, he'd learnt the hard way in middle school. If you didn't at least look like you were paying attention—yep, chalk to the face. Mello shot up and looked a little indignant. The professor smirked.

"I'm not keeping you there, am I…Kagome-kun?" he asked and Mello smiled thinly.

"Of course not, Yukita-senpai." He said, his eyes very sarcastic.

"Tell me Kagome-kun, since you were so enraptured in my lecture, what were the three murders of the LABB case and why were the recognized to be such?"

Mello smirked and leant into his hand. "The first murder was Believe Bridesmaid, a freelance journalist whom he choked to death with a rope after drugging him with hemlock. Not much point in strangling to be honest, hemlock kills eventually from oxygen deprivation. It was recognized as a murder by a serial killer because of the four Wara Ningyo dolls that were left at the scene and the fact that Believe's chest was carved up with roman numerals that spelt out the address of the next victim. It's a little more complex than that, but I won't go into too much detail."

Light smirked as the professor's mouth dropped open. He noticed that everyone was suddenly taking notes, but all Light did was smirk. He already knew most of this, but the detail in which Mello knew the case was certainly…interesting.

"The second murder was that of Quarter Queen, a thirteen year old girl. Drugged again with hemlock, but this time died from blunt force trauma to the skull. I also believe that her eyes were crushed inwards as well. Three Wara Ningyo dolls left at the scene, which led the investigators at the time to believe that it was a countdown, which it was. The next person's death was predicted through the fact that glasses were placed upon her when she didn't previously wear glasses. The next location was at Glass Station, indicated by this." Mello related coldly, not seeming to feel anything while saying all of this.

"The last murder, though it was intended to be the penultimate murder, was the murder of Backyard Bottomslash. She was a bank worker, and she died in a twisted experiment of B's. I think he wanted to see if a human could die of internal bleeding without external damage. It didn't work, so he cut off her arm and leg. He put the leg in her bathtub and took the arm with him. Two Wara Ningyo dolls this time, and nailed to the walls as well. Is that enough Yukita-senpai, or do you need me to delve into his mental health at the time and his particular motives and that he planned the last murder to be himself or that he posed as one of the investigators of his own crimes and almost fooled the entire world?" Mello asked, and the sarcasm was almost oozing from his statement.

The professor nodded, almost mutely. "That should be enough, Kagome-kun. Please try and pay attention next time, please."

Mello rolled his eyes the moment the professor turned around, but he placed his chin in his hand and leant forward, looking nearly asleep. The rest of the class were staring at Mello, but Light ignored them and pretended to be taking notes again. They quickly took his lead. Light flicked to the back of his notebook and wrote a quite note. He knew that Mello would notice.

_Impressive. You weren't kidding when you said that you knew this. When did you learn about it?_

Mello doesn't react. Then, as the professor switches topics, he seems to rummage from his notebook and take it out as if taking notes on a subject he didn't know.

_I learnt Criminal Pysch when I was 10. But then, I neglected things like Languages and Maths to focus on Criminal Pysch and Science. So don't feel too bad. _His handwriting is surprisingly neat, for a westerner.

Light taps his pen to the side of his face like he was thinking before he places the pen down to paper. It's a fountain pen; he hates ballpoint pens with a vengeance and almost never uses them. _I don't feel bad, merely curious. An education like that is quite fascinating. Many students would kill for something like that._

_Like you? _Asks Mello. He doesn't look at Light, but the words are in italics and he can see the smirk quirking at the side of his mouth.

_Perhaps if it were interesting. I managed to learn all of this myself at around the same age, but it's impressive that adult figures managed to set this as an education or curriculum. Generally, I've found that most children can't keep to that kind of pace._

_We weren't most children. And it was a very…exclusive school. All of us were more than able to keep up with the pace. And if they weren't, they went to other schools. _Mello writes and Light grins.

_So the Matt from yesterday was a classmate? And was L by chance a previous alumni? _

Mello almost visibly smiles now. _Given up trying to be subtle now? I'm hardly just going to tell you the answers. You have to work for it. And you haven't tricked me into disclosing information, you know. All the stuff I've already told you is public knowledge. _

_Challenge accepted._ Light writes, before he shuts his notebook as the professor finishes up the lecture.

(X)

Mello drifts through the lessons like he's barely paying attention. Light outwardly pays attention, of course, but they finally turn to playing mental chess in the last lecture of the day, the lesson where he usually falls asleep with his eyes open. It's a skill he's had to cultivate, after being bored for too long. He enjoyed it, and for once, Light actually had to try while playing chess. That was certainly new. Heck, he's enjoyed the whole day, trying to make Mello trip up and reveal certain things. He finds out the most information when Mello is angry.

For example, he's continually irked by someone called Near, a rival at the orphanage. And that it was an orphanage, not a school, which made the whole thing seem a little more suspicious. Oh, and that the person in charge was called Roger. They were little things, but they were small victories nonetheless and the look on Mello's face every time he slipped up was perhaps the most amusing thing Light had seen.

"I hope you don't slip up this badly when you're with Emiko." said Light, looking amused, as he managed to coerce Mello into saying that the patron of the orphanage was someone called Wammy, sometime in the late afternoon as Light walked back to his home.

"Trust me, I won't." Mello said, scowling as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I doubt she's quite as determined as you."

"Haha, you'd be surprised by the determination of 15 year old girl! I know my sister would probably be able to give even me a run for my money." Light says, with a laugh.

"Don't I know about 15 year olds intimately, being 15 myself and having several female classmates?" Mello asked, "And trust me, none of them are as bloody persistent as you are!"

"So it's a co-ed orphanage school?" asked Light and Mello scowled angrily.

"I might just hate you." He says and Light unlocks the door and walks in. His mother is waiting and immediately throws her arms around him.

"You didn't come home last night Light! I know that you texted me, but where were you?" she said and Light smiled insincerely.

"I was at Yamamoto's house studying. You know that he's awful at learning Math, and I was giving him a bit of a hand and relaxing a bit, and it got really late. His mother said that I shouldn't go out so late at night, so I stayed over at his." Light says, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she released him from the hug. "I'm very sorry if I worried you or Sayu, Otaa-san."

She smiles and wrings her hands together. "I have such wonderful children. You are very responsible, Light-kun. I just worry sometimes. Especially with the crime rate so high nowadays."

Light smiled. "Here, this is Kagome-san. He's an exchange student from America. I offered to show him our house, so he can see a bit more into Japanese culture at home."

"Oh, of course!" his mother exclaims, though she looks a little nervous, "Let him in, Light-kun!"

He ushers Mello in and he's remarkably meek as he bows to her. "Thank you for accepting me into your home, Yagami-san."

She looks a little flustered as she tugs at her apron. "Of course, there is no trouble. Do you want anything in particular? I'd be happy to make some."

Mello smiles and looks sincere. "It is true what they say about Japanese hospitality! You truly are kind, Yagami-san, but I'm fine for now."

Light can now see how Mello will charm Emiko in. There's the charisma that he'd been lacking around Light. He's bright and he appeals to the person's worst and best traits at the same time. L was very clever for sending Mello in as the operative. Light had no doubt that he would be a brilliant spy (if only his clothing sense wasn't so dreadful).

"Come on, Mark," Light says, "There's a lot of lecture notes to go through. Let's get over and done with."

Mello smiles again, charmingly, before they head up to Light's room. They're about to enter when Sayu tackles him down to the ground. "Light!" she shrieks, "You said that you'd take me to the movies yesterday, because Otaa-san wouldn't let me go alone, and then you didn't show up!"

She looks very upset and Light is very sorry. But really, the only reason he'd stayed to follow Wedy was because his and Sayu's picture had been there. He'd been trying to help her. "I'm really sorry, Sayu. Yamamoto-kun called louder."

She looks devastated and hits him hard, in the shoulder. He sometimes forgets that she's the sport star of her school. Suddenly, an idea occurs to Light that will both get him back in the good graces of his sister and get Mello access to Emiko Miyake.

"Tell you what, Sayu, why don't I make it up to you? This weekend, we'll go see a movie of your choice and you can bring whomever you like along and I'll buy us all food, okay?" says Light, as he pushes Sayu off him.

"Really?" she asked, her face lighting up. "We can go see the new Hideki Ryuuga film? And I can bring a few more people along?"

Light feels his face immediately contort into a grimace but nods. "Sure, if that's what you want. As long as I can bring a friend along too, or else, I'll die of boredom."

"Who's this?" asks Sayu, finally noticing Mello and blushing a bright red as she realized what that looked like. To Mello's credit, he didn't look too perturbed. Light wondered if scenes like this were normal to him, or whether his composure was just that good.

"This is Kagome Mark. An exchange student from America." Light says and Mello smiles charmingly, at which Light throws him a glare.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." he says, despite Light's death stare, and Sayu blushes.

"Sayu-chan." she says, as she quickly bows. "So how old are you, Kagome-san?"

"18," he lies smoothly, meeting her gaze, "And please, it's just Mark."

"Boy, you must be missing home, right about now? I know that I'd be really terrified if I came to a completely different country and didn't know that many people!" she chatters.

"Yes, but everyone is very welcoming here, which is lovely." he says and she turns an even brighter shade of red.

Light is tempted to let the awkward conversation continue, just to see how long it will take from Sayu to pass out from the amount of blood that seems to be rushing to her face, but his brotherly, protective instincts kick in and he firmly steers Mello towards his room, making their excuses.

Light finally shuts the door, and pretends to not hear the almost love-lorn sigh from his sister. "Must you do that?" Light asked, looking a little irritated, as he started up his computer and grabbed his contact book from the shelf.

"Look," Mello said, looking irritated, "I had to put up with you all day, doing the exact same thing to every single freaking person in my vicinity, you can put up with a little bit. Unlike you, I have a legitimate reason for doing it. What's yours, that you're a kiss-up?"

"No, it's that I'm a perfect student and perfect in every way. That's the way I'd like it to stay for now, it merely makes getting things done quicker if they're receptive to my actions. If you ooze too much charisma, like you were doing with my sister, people become wary of you. You need to find the right balance. You're just lucky that my family are fairly gullible. The rest of the world won't be. That kind of acting is asking to be known as a spy." Light lectures, as he flicks open his contact book. He'll be taking Mello along with him, but he'll need to take a girl along with him. There's no other context to asking a boy to go see a Hideki Ryuuga film with him. Well, there is, but Light's not about to encourage those sorts of rumours.

Not Takada, she wasn't into that sort of thing. No, this called for a more laidback and romantically inclined person, and the first person that came to mind was Yuri. Sure, she was opinionated and forceful, but she was also a fan of romantic movies and Light had previously gone on casual dates with her. She knew that what was between them wasn't serious.

Mello opens his mouth to retort but Light holds up a finger as the phone goes to the ringtone. "Hello, this is Yuri-chan speaking. Who is it?" she asks.

"It's Light-kun. How are you, Yuri? I haven't seen you in a while!" He says, turning on the charm. Mello pulls a face and slumps backwards on Light's bed. Light stuck his tongue out at Mello before turning his focus back towards Yuri.

'I'm fine, thanks Light! How's life as top student at To-Oh?"

"Boring." He fills the word with mock platitude and she laughs.

"I can't imagine it being boring. It must be fascinating for a whiz like you." She says, sounding envious. "I'm not saying that doing internship here at Yotsuba isn't rewarding, but it's a little boring. I'd loved to have gotten a business degree."

"Don't worry, you'll find a way to make it better for you. It's what you did back at high school." Light says, amiably. It's true, he remembers that Yuri used to hate the fact that their school didn't have a school council. She'd petitioned so hard that the school's administration had given in. The day of student protest they'd staged had certainly been interesting.

"You flatter me, Light-kun. But this isn't just a call to catch up, is it?" she asked and Light laughed, making it sound warm.

"You've got me there. I actually wondered if you were free this weekend? My sister's managed to coerce me into taking her and her friends to a Hideki Ryuuga movie and I thought maybe I should invite someone along so I wouldn't too bored. I was wondering whether you'd want to come?"

Yuri laughed. "Am I just a way to stave off boredom?"

"…Maybe?" Light says, pretending to sound cautious. He knows her. She likes this fake casualness.

"Haha, you're awful at being romantic, Light-kun. I'll be there. Send me over the details when you actually know the time that your sister wants to go. And you're buying me popcorn." Yuri said, before the phone clicked off.

"Don't overdo it, Light-kun! Maybe she'll see through your fake, fake nature. Who knows?" says Mello, as he twirls his hair, eyes wide with his sarcasm.

"Do you think I enjoy it? It's a chore. Part of being perfect. And it's helping you fulfill your task. You only have to wait two more days until you can get in with Emiko. So I'd appreciate a little bit of patience, Mello." Light snaps, looking annoyed.

"Don't call me by my name!" Mello barks, before his face contorts into incredulity. "And have you even considered that you don't need to be perfect?"

Light rolled his eyes. "Making the effort to be perfect is everything that keeps me from not dying of boredom."

"From where I'm standing, that looks like exactly what's keeping you bored." Mello says.

Light turns around and looks at him in the eye. Mello stares back, his turquoise eyes extending a challenge. Light turns around and ignores him.

(X)

Mello's leant against the wall outside the movie theatre when Light and Sayu arrive that weekend, Sayu chattering excitedly in his ear. He's wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses, but none of the other ridiculous outfits he had before. He's also wearing a long black t-shirt and low-cut jeans that look slightly ripped, accompanied by large black hiking boots that looks like their steel-toed, and yep, Mello is armed. That's new.

"Mark!" Light calls, easily, lifting his arm and Mello acknowledges him briefly, pulling out earphones from his ears.

"Light-kun. Sayu-chan." He greets, paying special attention to Sayu, who blushes again. Light rolls his eyes.

"When did you say that your friends were getting here, Sayu?" Light asked, as he checks his watch. Yuri should be arriving soon.

"1pm. Just like us." Sayu says, "How are you, Mark? I love your jacket! You look more cool in your casual clothes."

"Yes, the suit was at Light's insistence, he seemed convinced that they wouldn't let me inside To-Oh wearing what I usually do." Mello said, looking amused, as he tucks his sunglasses into his jacket pockets.

"Well, they probably wouldn't," Sayu says, with a laugh, "But this suits you much more. Pun unintentional."

Mello chuckles a little and even Light cracks a smile that is quickly wiped away as three other giggling girls show up and squeal at Sayu.

"Oh god." Light says under his breath, and Sayu hits him before squealing back at them in some high-pitched undecipherable chatter. Goodness, but he finds teenage girls annoying. Especially Sayu's vapid friends.

Suddenly two hands cover his eyes and Yuri's voice says, "Guess who?"

"Santa Claus." Light deadpans and she giggles. "It was hardly rocket science, Yuri. Your voice is pretty distinctive and I was expecting you." He chides.

"Ahh, can't fool Mr. Hotshot Detective." She teases, as she lets go of his eyes and grabs his arm instead. He resists the urge to shake her off.

"This is Kagome Mark! He's an exchange student from America!" Sayu was introducing happily, as if he were her responsibility and Light let him work his magic. Emiko was the girl with the large purple streak in her hair and who was chewing gum. Light had to wonder how Daikoku High allowed that. He remembered the rather strict uniform rules.

Her clothing was very new and definitely designer clothing. Not something a poor family could afford. She also smelled vaguely of cigarette smoke. Not an illegal drug, but definitely suspicious. Just hanging round someone who smoked wasn't enough to have the lingering smell, Light knew, from his experience with Wedy. No, and the proof was in her yellow fingernails. Cigarette smoker. Illegal for a girl her age. Mello was doing the perfect job of flirting with all of them and Light studiously ignored it all. He mused, that if this weren't a police investigation, he'd be a pretty awful big brother.

"Come on Light, let's go. You owe everyone popcorn!" Sayu says, tugging Light's other arm and Yuri follows with a laugh as they all troop into the theatre.

(X)

He doesn't see Mello around for the rest of the weekend, and that's satisfactory. He hopes that L's getting the evidence that he needs to catch the drug cartel. He wonders how Mello feels about being used to seduce the women of the case. Somehow, Light can't imagine him being too upset, but still, it can't feel right either. Sayu seems particularly disappointed that Mello seemed interested in Emiko, which annoys his big-brother senses for a bit, but Light firmly and ruthlessly shoves that part of him away. Justice would prevail.

It is Monday morning, around 5am and Light gets a text on his phone. Blearily, he rummages around for it and answers it. "Hello?" he asks, making his voice as coherent as can be when he's half asleep.

"Can you call Wedy for me and ask her to come and get me from where the tracking device is?" asked Mello. His voice sounded tired and exhausted.

"Did you infiltrate the drug cartel, then?" Light asks.

"Infiltrated and destroyed. I've got most of the people here in custody or they're knocked out on the floor, and I've also got visual evidence of their misdemeanour, but I need Wedy to give me a ride and get me out of here. Another one of L's operatives that is older than I, is going to pretend to have infiltrated the drug cartel, because I'm still a minor and shouldn't be involved. Now call Wedy, and get me out of here." Mello finishes, looking annoyed.

"Bye." Light says, before searching through his memory for Wedy's phone number. He'd seen it on Mello's fake info sheet, but Light had burned that afterwards to keep it from getting into other hands. He remembered.

He dialed the number and waited. "Hello?" he heard an equally weary female voice reply.

"Hey Wedy, it's Light." Light says, "This isn't a voluntary call at 5am, but Mello wants you to go and get him. He's done the mission and needs to get out of there. You're his ride, apparently."

"Thank you for informing me, Light." Wedy says, coolly, her professional manner returning. "I'll get right to it. Sweet dreams." She breathes lowly into the telephone and Light feels his face heat up for an instant. He isn't one to get flustered easily or even affected by things, but Wedy is very sleek and sophisticated and she's exactly what Light would want from someone he might date on a level that isn't purely usage.

"Good night." Light says, returning the intimacy in tone. It was a game they were playing, an intellectual and psychological game, and Light would be damned if he lost.

With that, Light places the phone back on his bedside, before closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

(X)

Light sighs as he pushes the hair from his face as he exits the University. Three days. He'd had three days of intellectual conversation and amusement and it was back to the routine. At least he knew which ball to chase after enduring four year or unrelenting boredom. L….he wondered exactly how brilliant he had to be to catch L's attention. Whatever it was, Light would double it. Triple the expectations if he could.

Light stopped still as he stared at the bright red car that appeared to be standing right in front of the University. There was a very familiar blonde standing in front of it, lighting a cigarette.

"Wedy?" Light asked, looking a little incredulous. She wore an orange and black dress that cut off scandalously at mid-thigh and left her shoulders bare. She wore knee high furry leather boots and her sunglasses and black beret were an ever-present accessory to her couture.

"Light." She greets, her voice warm. "How're you?"

"A little bored. Nothing much. What's new on your end?" Light asked, as he stepped out of the way of most of the people that were exiting the university. They stared at Wedy and himself as they walked by, unable to believe that Mr. Perfect was talking with her. But then, Light was feeling rebellious.

"Do you speak French?" she asked, as she took another long drag of the cigarette.

Light screwed up his nose. "Un peu. Mais, je ne parle pas beaucoup. Le japonais ne comprends pas français beaucoup. Ce n'est pas utile." (_A little. But, I don't speak much. The japanese don't understand French very much. It isn't useful.)_

Wedy smiled a little. "You're a jack-of-all-trades, aren't you? I'll try and discuss what happened in French. I'll speak slowly so you can understand better."

Light nods and she begins. "J'ai recueilli Mello de Yokahoma et nous sommes retournés au appartement." (_I collected Mello from Yokahoma and we returned to the apartment.) _She pauses a little and smirks. "Il n'était pas heureux." (_He wasn't happy_.)

"Quand est-il heureux ?" Light asked, smirking and she laughed, throwing her head back.(_When is he ever happy?_)

"Apres, le cartel de la drogue," Here, she paused and Light nodded; that was fairly easy to comprehend. "Ils ont été arrêtés, le même histoire encore. Nous avons gagné, grâcé à Mello., Encore, il n'était pas heureux." (_Afterwards, the drug cartel, they were stopped, the same story again. We won, thanks to Mello. Again, he wasn't happy.)_

"Surely he would be? He beat that Near person, right?" Light asked, as he smoothened his hair, absently.

"Mmm, yes. But Near solved another case all by himself. So Mello still feels inferior, so he'll keep working hard. It's what makes him tick, don't feel too bad about it. Without Near, Mello wouldn't be stimulated to do anything." Wedy says, complying with his change into English, tapping her cigarette against the car to get rid of the ash.

"What about you?" asked Light. "What happens to you, now the case is over?"

"Well, usually I head back to America, but I have some free time. I've never really seen Japan from a proper vantage point, far too busy jetting around the business districts and criminal underworld to really do anything. Maybe you can show me something interesting." She says, stubbing the cigarette against the car and she drops it on the pavement.

"Your world sounds far more interesting." Light says, "You don't want to go to Spaceland or the movies. That's dull. It's normal. Boring."

"To you." Wedy says, as she opens the car door and gets in. "I never really got the chance to do that. I've been embroiled in crime since I was fifteen. Somewhere like the movies is something like heaven."

"How about I take you to a fancy restaurant uptown and then you can show me somewhere interesting in Japan that you think I won't know about?" Light asked, as he got in on the other side.

"Well," she purred, as she moved the mirror around a little, "That ought to be fairly easy. You don't seem the sort to explore the underbelly of Japan in the full depth that it should be. How about a romantic night breaking into some of the most obscenely protected security buildings in the city?"

"Really now?" asked Light, raising one eyebrow archly, leaning closer to her. "And what would L say to this wanton misuse of your abilities?"

"Oh, but who says that he'll ever find out?" she said, and before they knew it, they were kissing. It was slow and teasing and just a hint of what was to come. Wedy tasted of smoke but she kissed like someone experienced in this art-form and certainly knew where to stop. Light wasn't exactly an amateur, but she was definitely better at him than this. Well, he would have ample time to get better.

Light smirked just a little. "Let's keep this little escapade from L then." He said, as he grabbed the GPS from the glove-box, making a mental note to ditch Takada as soon as possible.

"Mmm, lets." She agreed, before she turned on the engine and revved away from the university.


	7. What's in a name but lies?

**What's in a name but lies?**

**Summary: Matt and Mello are very similar to Wedy. Matt and Wedy both smoke and both cover their eyes. Mello and Wedy both wear leather and both are great with infiltration. Ever wondered why? Wedy's not a Wammy's kid, she has parents, because she is cited to be the second daughter of the Kenwoods (making their family influential) so it's something else. Aiber joins in too, because he can.**

"Hey Mello!" Matt said, looking up from his computer towards the elder boy. It was a cold, windy day in Winchester, England and the two boys were deeply in concentration studying for the calculus exam they had coming up very shortly. At least, Mello was studying diligently. Matt had been browsing the internet aimlessly; having a photographic memory rendered studying for tests into a waste of time.

"What?" asked Mello, not looking up from where he was hitting buttons on his calculator.

"I thought you might want to know that Merrie Kenwood died in a bike accident in Colorado today." Matt said calmly, pulling at his goggles a little.

Mello turned around in his chair and quirked his eyebrows at Matt. "Why should I care?" he said, his voice clearly promising doom if Matt didn't provide a decent explanation for disturbing his studying time.

In response, Matt turned around his computer screen and showed Mello the image of what Merrie Kenwood had looked like when she was alive. The person showed was brunette instead of blonde and didn't wear her trademark sunglasses, but the resemblance was too obvious to be dismissed.

Mello's jaw tightened and he looked down. "Wedy." He said and Matt could only nod.

(X)

The first time that Matt was had met Wedy was when he had been six years old. His mother had been an abusive mother and Matt had been cowering from her one summer afternoon when he' d dropped one of their plates in the kitchen. Just when she'd been about to hit him again for being a unsettling bastard just like his fucking useless father, the doorbell had rung and Matt had wrenched himself from her grip and ran away upstairs to find a hiding place.

Usually, the trend had been, that if he could find a decent hiding place where his mother wouldn't find him and stayed there for at least four hours, she wouldn't hit him, because she would have drunken herself into a stupor and forgotten about the incident. Matt had preferred a drunken mother. When she was drunk was when she felt happier and kept trying to act like a happy family. She gave him chocolate while crying a little about his father leaving them. His mother was difficult to be around when drunk, all clingy and wet and smelling of spirits, but she wouldn't hit him, and Matt had preferred emotional agony to physical agony.

That time however, his mother never came up to look for him. Mail had stayed hiding under his bed for eight hours, not daring to move nor to fall asleep, in case he missed her calling for him. Almost 10 hours later, Mail heard the door open and he almost came out but didn't dare to. Mummy hadn't said anything that suggested that she was happy with him again.

Suddenly a blonde haired woman wearing sunglasses plopped herself in Mail's field of vision and Mail had screeched and got as far back underneath the bed as he could. Mail hated strangers, one of the reasons he had no friends at his primary school. The other was of course, that he mastered everything much faster and with more ease than everybody else.

The woman, much to Mail's surprise however, didn't do anything that indicated that she particularly wanted to get him. She'd merely plonked herself on the ground, her leather boots tucked under her tight blue sundress and had lit her cigarette and started to take a drag from it.

Mail had eyed her for a few long minutes. She didn't look like she was about to make any overt movements, but on all the nature documentaries he'd managed to sneak in to watch when his mother was in a good, drunken state, the predator waited for their prey to get complacent. Still, there was no harm in talking.

"Who are you?" asked Mail. He was aware that he was being rude, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"The name's Wedy," she said, blowing out smoke away to the side of her, tactfully not blowing smoke straight into Matt's face. "You're Mail, right?"

"Yes." Mail said, cautiously. "How do you know?"

"Your mother was asking about you." said Wedy nonchalantly.

"Where is she?" Mail asked, not letting the casual manner she seemed to be acting affect him.

"In jail. We suspect that your father may have told her some useful information about the murders that he committed. He isn't talking, so we thought that she might." Wedy explained.

Mail frowned. "Father killed people? I thought he was just useless like me?"

Wedy's red lips pursed. "Did your mother tell you that you were useless?"

Mail nodded. "But I am, you see. I dropped plates when I was washing them and I couldn't turn on the kettle without spilling water everywhere."

Wedy's frown didn't let up. "That's not an indicator that you're useless, Mail, it just means that you can't do those particular jobs. Children aren't supposed to do jobs like that. Has she ever hit you?"

Mail didn't answer. He wasn't stupid. His mother had specifically told him not to tell anyone about her temper tantrums. "You keeping quiet is just more proof, kid." said Wedy calmly, as she took another drag of the cigarette, "And anyway, I can see the bruises. They aren't exactly subtle."

"What are you going to do about it?" Mail challenged.

Wedy smirked a little. "I don't know. What do you want to happen?"

Mail was floored and gaped at her. "What do I want? Why…why would that matter? Adults make decisions because kids are too stupid to know for themselves."

Wedy tilted her head sideways. "From what I've seen from you and from your very telling school grades, you're an intelligent kid and you should know what you want. I'm not going to deprive you of the right to choose."

Mail frowned. "What choices do I have?"

Wedy grinned a little and stubbed the cigarette against her boot. "One, you can remain with your mother and let life continue in that manner. Two, you can ask to be placed in a normal orphanage and possibly get foster parents and live a normal life there. Or three, you could take a leap of faith and take a series of tests to determine your intelligence. If you pass, there'll be a dangerous element to the life you'd be undertaking and you'd be pushed to the very limit, pushed to achieve. But you'll be guaranteed a luxurious life."

Mail had frowned. "Is there a chance I'll die? If I take the third option?"

Wedy had paused before nodding. Mail had grinned a little and started crawling forward. "And, what about my mother?" asked Mail, as she extended a hand towards him.

"She'll most likely be kept in jail for a while. Child abuse is a crime, especially since you seem to be underweight and those bruises look nasty." Wedy had said, as Mail had taken her hand.

"Will…will she be able to find me again?" Mail had asked.

Wedy shook her head. "Not unless you want her to."

"I don't. Why do you wear sunglasses indoors? My teacher says that it's bad manners." Mail had never claimed to be a particularly polite child.

"Hiram Powers, an American sculptor once said that the eyes are the window to the soul." said Wedy answering him nearly immediately. It was what had made Mail like her so much; she was the first adult who'd addressed him like he wasn't a child. Not the only person to do that, if children had been treated like they were children at Wammy's House, the instructors would have potentially been very injured, but she had been the first person and she'd stuck in his memory very well. "I don't know if that's true or not, but people will always look you in the eye to determine if you are telling the truth or not. It's an instinct of humans and it's because your eyes are the most expressive part of you. In my job, I need to be able to lie very well, so I hide my eyes."

Mail had frowned at her then. "Did you lie to me, then?"

"Yes. Wedy isn't my real name. And there are other things about myself that I am lying to you about by merely not telling you. Lying by omission is still lying. Everyone in the world lies at some point. But, I suppose you're referring to the facts I told you about the other things? No, I didn't lie to you about those." She said, coolly, lighting another cigarette.

"Did you choose your name?" asked Mail, feeling a little curious.

Wedy nodded. "That's right, I chose my codename."

"Then, can I choose one too?" asked Mail, feeling shy.

"Any particular reason you want to ditch your name?" she asked.

"I don't like it. And everyone teases me about it. They call me Mail, as in post and then Mile as in running and then all hate me. I don't want to be weird." Mail explained as calmly as he could.

"Well, you're welcome to pick a name." Wedy said and Mail grinned.

"I think I like the sound of Matt." He said, "It's close enough to my name that I won't forget but it's normal! Hi, I'm Matt!" he finished, extending a hand to Wedy.

Wedy took it and shook it. "It's nice to meet you Matt. Come on; let's go to the police station. You'll need to meet W and get temporary accommodation before we can administer any tests."

Matt suddenly stopped. "Will I have to cover up my eyes now? Because I'm lying all the time?"

"Only if you want to." Had been Wedy's response. It was the second time he'd been offered a choice by her and Matt was happy to receive them.

"I want to." He said, as confidently as he could, considering it was something quite new for him.

Wedy had smirked before taking the newly minted Matt away.

(X)

The first time Mello had met Wedy was quite a lot later than Matt had. It had been when Mello was eight and Near had first entered Wammy's House and usurped Mello's position as number one. Mello's pride had been quite unable to take it and he'd run away from the orphanage.

However skilled Mello was at lock picking due to the classes he'd taken at Wammy's and due to the fact that his father had been in charge of the German Mafia, he'd never been quite as good at planning as he was with the actual escaping part. He'd realized very quickly that his food would barely last him a day and that while taking a change of clothes and textbooks were all very well, he'd forgotten to take money or even some kind of way of obtaining money. But, Mello had never been one to give up in a tough situation and had snuck into a nearby church. Maybe God would show him the way.

Perhaps not God, even Mello wasn't quite so deluded to think that God would suddenly show himself to Mello and everything would be okay; if that had been the case; he would have saved Mello's parents when Mello had prayed for a day straight for their lives. No, Mello wasn't relying on the kindness of some heavenly God who only intervened on matters of great importance. He was relying on the kindness of the priest to not comment that Mello was in every sermon that he undertaken during that day and was just sitting in the antechambers outside the main church when the service finished.

"Child," the priest had finally said, as the church drew close to evening and closing time. "I must ask whether you have a home to go to."

"No father," Mello had said, "I ran away because I could not take it any longer at my previous home. I merely wish to take my time to think about where I will go next. I do not mean to intrude on your hospitality for much longer. I will be out of your hair tomorrow."

The priest frowned. "Stay safe, child. I will leave the church unlocked so that you can leave in the morning."

Mello knew that the priest was assuming abuse, and if this meant that the priest wouldn't ask too many prying questions, Mello had been happy to leave it at that. It had been eight o'clock, when Mello had been reading through the bible, perched on the altar steps. The pews were deliberately uncomfortable, a practice taken from Tudor times to stop the people in church on Sunday mornings being able to fall asleep in the middle of sermon. Not that it completely deterred those who intended to sleep, but it was reasonably effective.

Suddenly, the doors opened and Mello had ducked and dived behind the large altar. From his peripheral vision, he'd seen a blonde woman wearing sunglasses and a red leather catsuit walk into the church. She seemed to be looking for something, but she quickly seemed to dismiss it and knelt in front of the altar.

"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trepass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen." She ended. Mello twitched a little. That…was very annoying.

"You missed a bit." Mello said quietly, stepping out from behind the altar. She looked shocked by the fact that he was there.

"Wha—Who are you? What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're the priest!" she exclaimed, looking quite unnerved. In hindsight, Mello knew that she had been acting, but she'd been very convincing.

"I'm not the priest and my identity isn't important. And as for why I'm here, I guess I'm temporarily residing here. And you still missed a bit in the prayer." Mello said, pulling at his sleeve.

"What did I miss?" she asked.

"It's after 'Deliver us from evil'. For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, forever and ever, Amen." Mello recited quickly. She threw him a look, not that Mello could especially tell what kind of look, due to her obscuring sunglasses. By then, Mello had quickly figured out that she wasn't here to pray.

"Not every Christian uses those particular words, Mello." She said, as she took a seat on the pews. Mello froze a little. She hadn't exactly been subtle about what she was, but Mello hadn't expected her to admit it outright.

"So." Mello said, "Aren't you going to take me back there?"

"Not unless you want to." She said, calmly, lacing her fingers together. "However, I think that you will want to go back."

"I ran away!" Mello said angrily, "What part of that makes you think I want to come back?"

"Every child has that option to quit Wammy's House." She stated, boredly, "If you really wanted to leave, you would have told Roger. No Mello, you aren't unable to cope with the stress. Just unwilling. In other words, you're giving up."

"I never give up!" Mello shouted and she lifted her eyebrow up skeptically.

"One new kid beats your high score and then you run away? Sounds like giving up to me."

"I'm not giving up!" Mello re-iterated, "I'm just going to win my own way!"

Wedy had smirked and leant back at that. "Very idealistic Mello, but exactly how do you plan to achieve that? You have no money, no food and no resources and no one else to turn to. There is no other way for you to plausibly beat Near that isn't heading back to the orphanage."

Mello pulled his fists back and was about to shout when her words properly hit him. She was right. She was right. Mello crumpled and fell to his knees. "I can't stand it." He'd whispered, not looking at Wedy. "I can't stand not being the best. I want to succeed L and was going to. But Near's smarter than me. He's only been here two weeks and anyone can see that. He's two years younger than me and he's better in everything to do with the mind. The only thing I'm better at is sport. How can I face everybody knowing that I've already lost?"

He wasn't crying, but he knew that he was close to it. To his surprise, he felt two leather-clad arms pull around him. "You must be strong Mello. One failure is not the end of the world." She whispered in his ear.

"It is. L's never lost a single battle." said Mello, feeling his eyes water a little and furiously blinking them away.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Wedy said, leaning back, a smirk very firmly on her face. "But he technically lost against me. I was a thief in South America almost 8 years ago now. I stole from some of the most influential people in the world at the age of 16 without leaving a single trace. I eluded L for eight months straight and he never caught me. I gave myself up after I was threatened by the Medellin Cartel with death. In exchange for protection from them, I agreed to stop being a thief and spy illegally and agreed to work for L."

Mello stared at her with a look of incredulity. "Really?" he asked. "You're not just exaggerating?"

Wedy nodded her head, her blonde curls tossing backwards. "Really and truly. He's not infallible; everybody makes mistakes. But what L does best, is he recovers from it. He takes his shortcomings into stride and makes the situation turn out to be advantageous for him. When I was threatened, he wasted no time in holding everything he knew about me above my head and exposing me to the police. So that's what you need to do. Overcome your weaknesses or your losses. Call me cliché, but giving up's hardly the root to success."

"How can I face the rest of them, knowing that I gave up?" asked Mello, sighing a little.

"The students don't know anything about it. Only Matt, who reported you missing. Only the staff were sent out to look for you. What do you say to a pretending that we went on a field trip?" asked Wedy, smirking just a little, as she snapped her leather gloves back on. "I've got a motorcycle with a lot of spare room, kiddo."

Mello grinned a little and had followed her out of the room, thanking God for providing him with a second chance. Apparently Mello's future as a detective was big enough that God would deign to interact. Or maybe he'd been underestimating God a little. After all, it had helped him reach the orphanage and fulfill his potential where he would never have been able to before…

(X)

Mello sighed as he placed his head in his leather-clad hands. He'd thought Wedy's death had been bad, yet just six days later; he'd been called to Roger's office, only to be told that L had well and truly lost against Kira and that he hadn't picked a successor. Anyone with half a brain could see that it had merely been a ploy to get he and Near to work together, but the chances of that were low. Mello thought that Near was cold and senseless and Near thought that Mello was overtly-emotional and lacking perspective. Neither of them would work well together, Mello knew.

So he'd walked away from Wammy's for the second time. Except this time, there was no Wedy to bring him back with a smooth lie when he felt like he'd made a mistake. He was out on the streets for good. At least he'd managed to plan a little better this time around. Money was easily obtained, especially since L's trust fund contained enough for the entire orphanage to feed the continent of Africa comfortably for a year. Contacts…well Mello knew several people. He understood people's ambitions very well and many were happy to see the Keehl boy back. Of course, they'd have to die soon, before they could spill too much information or even speak about his real name, but Mello needed them for at least another month so he could firmly entrench himself in the world of crime.

He hated it. He hated the criminal world, but two criminals (three counting Kira), had managed to defeat the famed L, so that was his best chance, seeing as Near was very similar to L in most ways. Only in most ways, of course; Near still lacked the initiative to get anything done without outside prodding. Mello sighed again and snapped off a little bit of chocolate from his bar as he opened his laptop.

There was one email in his inbox, sent five minutes ago from Matt. Mello sighed and opened it. There were only three words. _Thierry Morrello. Dead._

Mello frowned. The name didn't ring any bells….but then, neither had Merrie Kenwood. Mello quickly searched up the name and frowned. There seemed to be no overt references to him. Mello quickly scrolled down the search engine and froze. There was a small obituary referenced from a French newspaper. And the face…well, Mello was still perplexed as to how Matt was finding out these deaths, even though they barely seemed to touch the news.

The only other criminal that had defeated L had just died. Aiber, as Mello knew him best, was dead. Now the only other criminal that had managed to defeat L was Kira. Wasn't that reassuring?

(X)

Mello and Matt had both met Aiber at the same time. It had been when they were both 11, and were starting one of the new courses offered to the students who knew of L's existence. It had been strangely named course; 'Spinning a Web' was plain weird, no matter what the context. They'd both entered the classroom to see a blond man with his feet up on the teacher's desk, coolly drinking a cup of wine at 8 in the morning.

Matt had been overjoyed and had immediately adopted the man's position at their usual front desk with his beloved video games instead of the wine but Mello had been skeptical. A quick analysis of the man's traits and appearance had quickly determined the man's identity. Smirking, Mello had sat down, and for once, hadn't taken out any of his notebooks or his school supplies, settling instead, for placing his boots on the edge of Matt's seat in front of him.

When Near had come in, he'd shot Mello a strange look and taken the seat next to him. "Mello is not usually this disrespectful to teachers. Is something the matter with Mello?" he asked, looking a little perplexed, a tiny furrow in his brow.

"You'll see, Near." Mello said, unable to stop the smugness permeating his voice. Unless Near had met Wedy, which was unlikely in itself, he wouldn't be able to figure this out. Sure, he'd get the vibes from the man not quite being the standard teacher, but Mello knew he wouldn't be able to connect the pieces without the information that Mello knew. He'd win this particular round.

"I am assured by Mello's unusual demeanour, that this should be interesting." Near said calmly, as he pulled out his voice recorder. It was how Near learnt the new material, Mello knew. Unlike other people who took notes on the lesson, he merely recorded the entire lesson and played it back later to analyze everything later. It was his own choice, but when Mello had tried, it hadn't worked for him. He supposed it was because of Near's status as albino. His vision was about 20/200 with his contacts and so, he didn't do so well when he had to read handwriting or even small printed letters. Mello had amused himself on the days when he felt particularly sadistic or bad-tempered, on the episode when their third Logic teacher had tried to hand out handwritten worksheets for people to do and Near literally had to squint at it and pull odd looking faces to try and focus when it was in front of his face.

The moment that class started, the man placed his cup down on the table and stood up. "Welcome to Spinning a Web. My name is Lima—"

"Wrong." Mello called out, interrupting his speech. The blonde man looked quite confused.

"Excuse me? I think I'd know my own name." he said, looking politely stern.

Mello merely smirked and leant forward. "I'm sure you do, but that name isn't yours to claim, and you know it, don't you, con-man?"

"Con-man!" He shouted, looking angry. "Your accusations are unfounded and insulting! I am a respectable member of society—"

"Teaching a bunch of geniuses how to make up cover stories on how to lie." finished Mello, buffing his nails casually, not looking up at the blonde man. "Not great for a respectable citizen. I have to say though, your acting is impressive."

The blonde man looked like he was turning more and more red before he grinned easily and grabbed a whiteboard pen and went to the front of the classroom with a smirk. He wrote across the top '_How not to blow your cover_'.

"Step 1, research your targets first to make sure that they don't know of your false identity's appearance or of your appearance." He said, calmly. "Anyone else know how else I was fake?"

Mello smirked and grabbed his notebook, with a grin on his face, before throwing his hand into the air. But Near's hand was up before his.

"Yes, Near?" asked the blonde man.

"Lima's attitude was too nonchalant for a teacher. Most teachers do not drink wine at 8 in the morning, nor do they look like they've walked out of a fashion catalogue." He said calmly and the man smirked.

"Yes indeed, well put. Step 2, make sure your appearance is connected to the cover that you're attempting to pose as. For example, if I were disguising myself as a business man, wearing Hawaiian shorts and a T-shirt wouldn't be appropriate, even if it is my preferred attire. Anything else?"

Mello could tell that he was talking to the top 5 in the class. Near's pyjamas, Matt's goggles and stripes, Mello's black clothing style, Elpheba's dyed hair and Jason's piercings were more than conspicuous. Mello placed his hand in the air again.

"Yes Mello?" he asked.

"Don't try to confirm your cover when you feel like you're being blown. You should have walked away when I started interrogating you, not reacted like you did. It made you more conspicuous and your performance turned steadily faker as time passed." He said, calmly, his nonchalant manner, now evaporated.

"Correct, that's a good one. Step 3, don't stick around to try and keep your cover intact. If it's blown, make a suitable excuse and get out. When you do that, remember to stay casual and unruffled. If you panic and run, that's even worse." the blonde man said, quickly writing summaries of each step on the board in his slightly messy handwriting.

Jason's hand shot up. "Wouldn't the first step be to actually devise a cover story and make sure you have the forged evidence to support it?" he asked when the blonde man indicated towards him.

"Sure, but that's only if you're going into deep cover or you know you're going to need a fake identity in advance. Sometimes you need to be able to make it up on the spot and not get too flustered." said the man calmly. "If you start to depend too much on preplanned materials, your actual creativity when it comes to making up identities is stifled."

Matt's hand went up, to Mello's surprise. "Yes…Matt?"

"Matt." He confirmed, pushing his orange goggles upwards a little. "If you are making an identity up on the spot, you want to keep the facts straight and not flesh out too much. If you flesh out too much on the spot, your facts will start to contradict each other or you won't sound convincing enough, especially when you have to think too long about something that should be fairly simple."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience." said the blonde man, smirking a little and Matt sunk lower into his seat. Mello was pretty sure that he was turning red. Mello remembered that incident pretty well, when Matt had tried to swindle Harrods into selling him 18+ items. "Anyway, he's right. Step 4, don't elaborate on your cover unless they ask for details. If they ask for your name, just tell them your name. Don't add what it means, where it comes from, why your parents named you it, etc. It's boring, useless and most people wouldn't tell total strangers things like that, so you draw attention to yourself."

Mello put his hand up again. "Step 5, " he said, "If you're going to say you're from somewhere or that you like something to help the target trust you, make sure that you're actually pretty familiar with what you claim to like."

"Couldn't have put it better myself." said the blonde man, nodding towards Mello.

Near's hand went up. "Yes, Near?" the blonde man asked.

"Step 6, Don't act in a suspicious manner that will make the target think that one is abnormal. For instance, when B used to interrogate people for the location of A, B used to be so offputting that no one would answer him nor could stand to be near him." Near said calmly. "One must be amiable to the target and act in a manner that they would find natural. Whether this is casual politeness or warm affection depends on the target."

"Again, nicely put." said the man, nodding towards Near too. "I think we've got enough for now. These are the steps for maintaining a cover. How do you deduce a person's identity from their cover is the more difficult questi—Yes Mello?"

"You still haven't given us your name yet." Mello said flatly. "Referring to you in my head as blonde man, teacher or con-artist isn't quite cutting it for me."

There was a snicker rolling through the whole class and even the teacher smirked, shoving his hands into his blazer pockets. "Well," he said slowly, letting the laughter die down. "You can call me Aiber. I make no claims to that being my real name, but then again Mello is hardly yours, is it?"

Mello shrugged. "Sounds good to me. You were saying about identities?" No one called him out on being self-centred, thinking that the whole lesson revolved around him, but people that weren't Matt tended to not want to voluntarily talk to Mello unless he was in first position or he was playing a sport. He wasn't too bothered by this, it's not like he wanted people bothering him at all hours of the day, like they did with Near or Linda. Still, the silent contempt was worse than if they just told him he was awful to his face. At least then, he had a reason to retaliate. Which, in hindsight, was probably why they silently hated him.

(X)

"Mello, could you stay behind please?" asked Aiber as everyone trailed out of the classroom for lunch.

"Someone's in trouble," Matt muttered to Mello, lowly. "D'you want me to wait for you?"

"Nah, I'll be good. Save us a table though, the last thing I want to do is share with someone else." Mello whispered back with a smirk.

Matt gave him a quick salute before dawdling out the door. Mello turned back around. "Anything the matter, Aiber?"

"How did you know that I wasn't the teacher?" he asked, as he poured himself some more wine.

"Wedy." Mello said, "She said they'd be testing our deductive powers soon, most likely by replacing teachers and things, and that we had to stay observant. The moment I walked in, I could tell that you were the first test and when I saw that the watch that you wore, had two sets on initials carved on it instead of just one, I knew that you were a conman."

Aiber grinned as he took a sip. "Perceptive. You're good at this. Ever thought of being a con-artist yourself?"

At Mello's glare, he took another sip of wine and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you're L's successor. Still, having a protégé as talented as you would be pretty interesting."

(X)

Mello sighed. Ever thought of being a con-artist, indeed. It was exactly what he was doing now. Charming the money and contacts out of the people who couldn't see past their own noses. Ha, Aiber had a knack for predicting future events. What a joke.

He sent an email back to Matt. _How the heck are you finding these deaths?_

Matt sent one back nearly immediately, despite the time difference between Los Angeles and England. _Hacked into the database to find out L's most trusted operatives, after Wedy's death. I kept tabs on Thierry and then he died yesterday. Poof. Think it was Kira's fault?_

Mello almost rolled his eyes. _Whom else, genius? But you know what this means, right? He can kill with other means than heart attacks. _

Matt's only reply was a perfectly accurate summarization of the entire situation since L's death. Heck, not just since L's death, since Kira had first started his reign of terror. _Shit_.

"Tell me about it, Mattie." Mello said to thin air, before turning off his computer and heading to sleep.


	8. Hypocrite

**Hypocrite**

******Summary: Despite L being dead, Light sees his ghost everywhere he turns. It's rather irritating, but at least L keeps his distance, unlike his other supernatural follower. Still, that's all set to change on one Samhain night...**

Sometimes, Light still sees the ghost of L dance past him. It's only ever in the corner of his eyes while he's working on the computer or talking with his sister or even just walking around Tokyo, but then, he's there. Suddenly. Unexpectedly, with his piercing dark eyes, and unruly black hair almost brushing his shoulders, just standing and watching. None of the malice associated with the ghosts that supposedly haunt murderers, just a frank curiousity.

But Light tended to ignore his image a lot; after all, he's got enough supernatural followers, what with Ryuk's constant demands to be entertained or to have apples. He doesn't need L as well. One is more than enough. It was bad enough being chained to the man, he doesn't need him following him after he'd dead, as well.

Though, he's a little flattered. The two greatest minds the world currently possessed, linked by some inexplicable force, so much so that one followed the other after death?…well, it was a wonderful mix between infuriation and wistful wanting that Light experienced. He'd never truly experienced true love. He loved his sister and his parents and he appreciated his friends and gullibility of the police task force, but he'd never loved. The closest he'd gotten was the annoying sibling-esque relationship and teasing game he'd played with L, and well, that had been too twisted, and too filled with hate to have ever worked out.

It makes him laugh though, about how twisted he is. That the closest he's gotten to the emotion that even the most stupid of people have managed to experience, is that thrill of the cat and mouse chase he'd had with L. What a twisted life indeed. Then, he'd made that sacrifice, hadn't he? His life, his soul, his health, his wealth; all to make the world a better place. He'd decided that the moment he'd started his reign as Kira.

Still, it didn't make seeing L in the mirror on the morning of All Hallow's Eve any less terrifying.

Light hadn't screamed, of course, but he'd merely collapsed to the ground with a thud. It was probably for the best that Misa hadn't been around, gone as she was for her Halloween photo shoot and signing with fans, or she would have been more than confused. Ryuk was there, of course, ever the spectator, but Light only had enough patience to deal with one supernatural stalker at a time, so ignored the relatively less harmful one, in favour for the phantasm of L in his mirror.

"What do you want?" Light asked, his hands shaking as he staggered back to his feet.

L merely threw him a look and pointed towards his throat.

Light rolled his eyes. "Typical, you aren't even useful. Can't you write it in the mirror's fog or something?"

L threw him a gimlet stare that very clearly read that Light was an idiot. Light frowned angrily at the mirror; that was his trademark look! He threw L that look every single time he'd eaten food weirdly on jumped out of bed at three in the morning because he'd had a new idea. L was not just allowed to retrain it back at Light; Light wasn't on l's level of kookiness yet!

"Fine then, you aren't corporeal. Forgive me for not knowing the comprehensive restrictions that bind ghosts." Light said his sarcasm biting. "How can you communicate with me then? Or are you just going to stare at me all day?"

L merely looked at him and Light rolled his eyes and started buttoning his shirt. "Ttch, you're a figment of my imagination, of course you can't talk."

"He's no figment. I can see him too." Ryuk helpfully added, from where he was reclining on Light's bed. Light whirled around.

"What." Light demanded.

"He's right there. In the mirror. Being creepy." Ryuk explained, a smug smirk playing on the shinigami's lips.

"And you didn't mention this before, because?" Light demanded.

"Because it was funny watching you talk to him?" At Light's glare, the shinigami shrugged. "I do everything in my power to be entertained, you know that."

Light tutted impatiently and strode into the kitchen. His shirt was half unbuttoned and his hair wasn't combed, but he couldn't deal with either of the spectral beings for any longer without any coffee. The moment Light poured out the milk, it tipped itself over onto the table. Light stared at it with apprehension.

"L?" he asks, feeling more than a little nervous. That was not natural and not caused by Ryuk.

The milk was now congealing to form a word. "Dachau." Light reads and his heart chills. How the heck did L know? Even his parents hadn't known! Only ever Sayu, and L had never seen her and she wouldn't tell random strangers things like this.

"How…?" he asks, as he stares at the table in shock. There is no answer. Light wasn't sure whether he was expecting one or not. He grabs a paper towel and started to mop up the milk.

(X)

He was 15 when he'd first visited Germany with his parents. They'd started out in Dusseldorf, then travelled to Hamburg and Berlin, then down south towards Frankfurt and Stuttgart. They'd been in Germany for five weeks, much to Light's delight and he'd enjoyed every second of it.

His father spoke very little German and his mother was only slightly better. Light had ended up being the communicator for the trip, much to Sayu's annoyance. Because of this, he'd barely gotten any sort of free time, between translating the pamphlets or signs or people that weren't in English or Japanese. But, when they'd been in the south of Germany, his parents had requested a day off and Light had been left to his own devices with Sayu.

They'd made a deal; if Sayu and Light went shopping in the evening, she would consent to coming along on Light's curiousity trip. They'd been studying the Second World War in school and how Japan had been on the wrong side, and they'd mostly focused on the Asian element of World War 2, but the teacher had mentioned the atrocities that had happened in German concentration camps and it had piqued Light's interest.

He'd wanted to see Auschwitz, but Dachau was the only famous camp in Germany. So they'd made a trip out to Dachau, in a bus full of other tourists. Sayu, for once, had been pretty silent after Light had told her where they were going and why.

"Do you have to do this to become a police officer?" she'd asked, as they'd disembarked the bus.

"It's not a matter of duty; it's a matter of seeing history, so we remember to never repeat it." Light had whispered to her. There was a tour guide, he knew, but he hadn't wanted to experience that. He'd always preferred to do things himself. Sayu had wanted to come with him, even if it meant missing out on more information.

They'd walked through the Jourhouse and seen the little, bitter, symbol on the gate, "Work will make you free."

"Don't underestimate the power of words," Light had told Sayu as they walked through there, "Because the people who came in from outside were told these words, they saw what they wanted to see. They didn't see a brutal labour camp; they saw a place where those 'filthy Jews' could do something productive towards society. And if the minorities saw what the Nazis were really intending…well, they couldn't do anything about it."

"How could they do that?" Sayu had asked, looking horrified and contemplative as they'd come unto the main memorial. She traced the names of the people who'd died for their cruelty on the cold stone wall and there'd been tears in her eyes. "How could they just kill this many people without a regret? How could you ever justify that?"

Light paused. "It's somewhat complex."

"I want to know." Sayu said, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Fine. But you'd better listen carefully. There are many reasons they did it. First things first; everybody hated Jews back then. The whole world did, especially the western world, because of the religion. Christianity had taken over from Judaism, but since Judaism was older, it was still a threat to Christianity, therefore, people ostracized them. Also, they were foreigners, escaped peoples from the middle-east, which meant that most Jews were shopkeepers or craftsmen; some of the only portable jobs and livelihoods really. They provided the community with things and usually ended up being rich and successful. Poorer Germans, who couldn't get a job in the Great Depression Era envied them and hated them even for more having the money to keep surviving. To make themselves feel better, they said that Jews were cheating; Jews were lying; Jews were conspiring with the devil, if good, honest, Christian Germans couldn't get jobs, but the darkies could."

It was difficult for Light to place himself in those shoes, but now he'd started, he couldn't stop.

"Then Hitler came along and he appealed to the country's hidden racist, purist tendencies. National spirit and pride and restoration; we can make the world a better place, a place free of filth, of criminals, of devil-worshippers. You have to take into account that racism was still rampant here; having darker skin and darker hair was similar to being black. One drop of blood that wasn't white made you less than the white people. Even Asians were treated with the condescension you'd treat really young children with. So they followed, because his words were coated in honey and people liked his ideals, ideas. They wanted that new world, that world where they could get a job, where Germans would rule the whole world. Every human seeks power and respect; it's part of our nature. People would most likely do it, even today, if the truth was sufficiently hidden, if their consciences were sufficiently placated and soothed, to make them think they were doing the right thing. The whole world would follow a madman if he were convincing enough."

"That's really scary. You think it could even happen today?" asked Sayu. She'd stopped crying, but her eyes clearly showed that she had been.

"I'm convinced of it. The Nazi soldiers felt no guilt over burning and killing Jews and other minorities like gypsies, homosexuals and disabled people, because they saw them as nothing better than animals, half-human. And, even if they saw the human aspect of it; they were only following orders. They had a family to feed as well, and that was how they justified their actions. They said that they could do nothing, unless they wanted to futilely die. Personally, I think, even if they'd been able to see how the prisoners were human; they would still treat them with the same amount of cruelty." Light explained, as they took a few pictures of the memorial.

"Why?" Sayu asked.

"There's been a study into human nature and about cruelty and power. People in Stanford University, California conducted a week long experiment. It was a simulation of a prison. 24 perfectly normal college students gave up their time to help a Dr. Zimbardo. 12 became prison guards and 12 became prisoners. Despite being completely innocent, as the experiment progressed, the prisoners were treated with more and more contempt and abuse from the guards. Merely being in that position of power caused everyone to forget that the prisoners were innocent, even the doctor in charge of the experiment himself for a while. Later, the people involved said there were three types of guards; the relatively good, those who tried to avoid punishing the prisoners as much as possible, the tough but fair, who kept to the rules but still punished when they saw fit and then the sadistic. I don't need to go into detail of what the sadistic guards did to the prisoners, but it wasn't good. The good guards later said that they felt helpless to stop the violence. Even if they thought it was wrong, they didn't feel like they could intervene. That's human nature. Unless someone with higher authority steps in, our dark, sadistic streak that desires power will show through."

Sayu was silent for a few moments as they walked around. "How can you stand to know all of this?" she whispered, clinging to his arm.

"We mustn't forget, so that we will never repeat it." Light said calmly.

"We would never repeat something like this now!" Sayu exclaimed.

"Wouldn't we? Isn't there a race of people that are persecuted, even today?" asked Light, crossing his arms.

"You mean the _gaijin_?" asked Sayu and Light shook his head.

"Well, no, I didn't mean that, but that'll do as an example. What's your impression of an American?"

"Lazy, fat people who stick their noses into everybody's business." Sayu answered without even pausing to think.

"Right." Light said, a smirk quirking at his lips, "Well, do you know what Americans think Japanese people are like?"

"No…" she said, looking a little confused.

"In American culture, Japanese people are insanely polite, always bow at everything, even walls, they know everything and are better with machinery than people. They're weird and walk around in anime costumes or kimonos all day long, men and women alike, and we apparently speak in the internet idea of what Japanese sounds like." Light said. "Is every Japanese person like that?"

"Of course not!" Sayu said, looking very angry. "How could you even suggest that?"

"How could you even suggest that every American is always fat lazy and nosy then?" Light countered. Sayu stared at him for a few moments before deflating.

"Right as per usual, Light. Gold star." Her voice is dull and monotone, and she looks like she's about to cry. "Am I as bad as Hitler now?"

"Of course you aren't, Sayu! Everyone has these thoughts, simply because of the way that media and our stereotypes portray other countries. We can't help that, but what we mustn't do is believe the stereotype and let the stereotypes expand. Let's continue with the Americans. What if 'nosy' and 'lazy' expands to' waste of space' and 'can't mind their own business'? Then from there, to 'serve no purpose in the world' and 'threat to national security'? It's the same thing that happened with the Jews. It just expands and spirals out of control until the whole world's problems is laid on the heads of one race. We need someone to blame. It's our nature, we can't help it, but it's wrong. We shouldn't blame others, yet we continue to do so." Light finished with a tone that was touching hysteria. She had to understand so she wouldn't repeat it.

Sayu was quiet for a while as they walk around the crematorium, looking at the room where the poor, poor prisoners here, died.

"I understand, Light, I really do." She'd said, finally. "I don't like it, but I understand. This is why you want to be a police officer."

Light could only nod; his ability to speak exhausted, after the explanation to his sister.

"I'm…I'm scared." She admitted. "I'm scared that the possibility for this violence is still there. I'm scared by the idea that there could be another Hitler. I'm not strong like you or Dad. I couldn't dedicate myself to a job where I would place myself up against someone like that, or even worse, under the service of someone like that. I…wouldn't be able to sleep at night, constantly worrying, pondering. I'd fall apart, I wouldn't be able to cope with it all, the murder, the hate, the violence, the bitterness of it all. I…just couldn't be as strong as you. I'm so sorry."

Light shrugged. "Not everyone can be strong, Sayu. And, sometimes, it is better to be happy and ignorant, than broken and knowledgeable."

"Hmm. Is that some sort of code for 'Don't tell Mum and Dad that we came here', Onii-chan?" asked Sayu, her cheerful demanour returning easily. He could see that her smile was more brittle and her eyes were still haunted as they passed through the last memorial.

But Light complied with the change of topic. "You know me too well, sister!"

(X)

She'd never discussed the topic again and she'd never even hinted about their trip to Dachau to anyone, not even to Light himself. The photos on the camera were completely erased; the only remnants of them were the undeveloped film that was still coiled up in Light's underwear drawer.

"I don't understand what's so important about Dachau, L." Light says to the spectre who's staring at him from the microwave window, before grabbing his coat and shoes to get coffee from Starbucks on the way to the police station.

(X)

"You really are deluded now that you've set into being Kira, aren't you, Light-kun?" said L's sharp monotone voice as Light got up from where he was lying on the floor.

"Bad enough that you haunt my daytime, but now you're haunting my sleep as well?" asked Light looking at L. "And what are you on about? I'm not deluded!"

"Aren't you?" asked L. "_I don't understand what's so important about Dachau, L._"

"Well, I don't see your obscure connection to that place. I don't see how that makes me deluded." Light said, rolling his eyes. "I don't know, in a past life you went there and died? You were a prison guard there?"

L rolled his eyes. "No Light-kun, I have no connection to the place. It's your connection to the place that I'm talking about." At Light's blank stare, L laughed darkly. "You really can't see the parallels, can you?"

Light sighed and created a chair to sit down on. "You can't honestly be comparing Kira and Hitler, can you? I'm not the ruler of a country and I have no aspirations towards war. Kira wants peace."

"Kira wants the world wiped of what he sees as filth. Hitler wanted the world wiped free of what he saw as filth. Kira wants a new world full of all the good people. The Nazi party wanted a world filled with all the good, righteous Aryans. They were thinking that "_we can make the world a better place, a place free of filth, of criminals, of devil-worshippers_", right? Isn't that exactly the ideals behind Kira's logic?" L challenged and Light smirked.

"You know, by quoting my exact words back at me, when you shouldn't even know that I went to the place, you're affirming yourself as a figment of my imagination even more." Light said and L shrugged.

"I don't care whether you see me as the dead ghost or the figment of a guilty imagination, as long as you stop justifying and start thinking!" L shouted and Light lifted an eyebrow. He'd never thought that the man would lose his temper. He'd never once seen it happen. Perhaps this wasn't a figment of his imagination. After all, Light wouldn't ever imagine L exploding like that.

"Thinking about what? How what I am doing is wrong? What I am doing is evil? That is the public, politically correct response. Yet, on the anonymous internet, several thousands of people acknowledge that Kira's actions are correct. I undertook this task to make the world a better place, even if it means that I lose everything that was part of myself." Light said calmly, tapping his fingers against his thighs.

"Don't make yourself out to be a martyr. You wanted to be the '_god of a new world'_. The whole world will follow a madman if he is convincing enough. All your own words. Why can't you see what path you're following?" L asked, his face contorted into lines, disgust etched into his features.

Light sighs. L's strangely transparent in death, lacking the masks he'd had in place when he was alive. This challenge is weak and pointless. Light's disappointed. L could have been such a great opponent, but in the end, he is weak.

"God means nothing more than a moral leader with supernatural powers. Does that not describe what I currently am? I have no aspirations to burn books or start wars or ban knowledge, not like the Nazi party. Kira wants utopia." Light said easily, spreading his hands outwards and smiling, like he did when he was dealing with the taskforce or with Misa.

"A utopia brought about by death; purging of the 'filth' that make this world a bad place. Tell me, Light-kun, after you've killed every single murderer and rapist, what will you do then? What will you target next? Petty robbery? Vandalism? Adultery? Laziness? You can never create a world free of crime! It doesn't work that way! And even if you do, it is by the strategic removal of personality, freedom and opinion. It is by creating a fragile world that is controlled and monitored on all ends, that can be broken or toppled over by one tiny push, one tiny rebellion. It is a truly impossible task and one that will never be achieved by being kind. You will become a dictator of the worst kind."

"Such a pessimist, aren't you L? Normal people, good people who've never done anything wrong populate this world far more than criminals. Once the criminals are gone—"

"Others will rise up to fill the void. And you get rid of so many of those innocents every day, Light-kun. The police officers who chase you, the news reporters who oppose you, those on the internet who keep their names and faces out in the open? They have done no wrong. They have done nothing but protest your twisted logic and they are dead. Tell me, how can you call yourself righteous after that? What utopia is created by suppression of opinions?" L interrupted.

"I don't call myself righteous. I am not kind, I am not nice. I am this world's god. When has God ever been kind or nice? I judge those who are criminals and those who are not, and those who oppose me shall see my wrath!" Light shouted at L, standing up from his chair. It had started out as petty but now L was making some points…lies, all of it, lies!

L just shook his head and stared at him. "You will never change. Your path is set. You cannot see what you have become and so another brilliant mind is lost. He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you. I will wait for you Light-kun, at the end."

"You're a filthy charlatan_, L Lawliet_! How many lives have you gambled away in the name of your twisted justice, in the cases that you only every undertook because they were entertaining?! Yet you call me evil! At least I do not masquerade as being righteous! I am doing the right thing! How can you call me Hitler?!" Light screeched. L merely shook his head and mouthed something at Light which he couldn't see as the world faded to black.

(X)

Light awoke with a start and felt his breathing increase pace, until it sounded like he'd just run a mile. Misa was next to him, holding his arm and murmuring soothing words, rubbing circles into his back. Normally, he'd shake her off, but the image of L was too clear and Light could do nothing but shake and breathe and circle his fingers around the knotted scar tissue where a handcuff had once been.

Dead. Gone. L Lawliet was dead. He'd traced out the name in Rem's notebook and he'd seen the body and attended the funeral. He wasn't coming back. He wasn't coming back. Light wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Light? Was…what did you see?" she asked finally, her green eyes widened as she looked at him, a deep concern filling her eyes.

Light shook his head. "Just a nightmare. Don't worry about it. Go back to sleep." Light staggered out of their shared bed and walked into the bathroom and locked it firmly. Ryuk followed him through the wall, of course, but Light could hardly stop that.

Light glanced at the mirror, as he ran the water in the sink. It was 3 in the morning on the 1st of November and the phantasm of L was gone.

"Ryuk?" he asked. "Can you see him still?"

The shinigami shook his head, a low chuckle in his throat. Light didn't have the energy to glare at him.

He wasn't Hitler. He wasn't…he just wasn't. He was Kira, he was a god. The whole world worshipped his every action!

…But they didn't. The Kira investigation team still existed; there were still internet people who disclaimed his name in utter secrecy. He mightn't be burning books or forcing people to inform on each other, but people's opinions were being suppressed. The criminals that he killed, he'd researched and checked whether what they'd done was right or wrong, but sometimes people took their own actions against those they perceived as criminals and Misa and Higuchi's killings were never done with as much care or attention to detail as Light's were.

Light splashed his face with water weakly as stared at his reflection. He still looked as handsome as ever, but gaunter. His cheeks were starting to sink and his clothes were a little too large because he was getting steadily thinner. His hair was lustrous, but just a bit too long and just a bit too limp. He barely slept anymore; and that was all L's fault. (Or was it the Note's…?) He wasn't up to the bags under his eyes that L had, but he was getting there.

His conscience was suffering. He'd won against L, and he'd won this whole world to be his, but…L had been right. It was an impossible task. He wasn't able to wipe out human nature. Even with the threat of Kira hanging over their heads, people still committed crime and still died every day, because they couldn't stop themselves. He couldn't understand it. Some genius he was.

He clutched the sink a little as his knees fell close to giving way. He could see what he'd become. Crazed, set in his path, and in a path that led only towards disaster. He wondered whether Mugabe, Hitler and Louis XVI had seen the path that they were walking and whether they could see how it would end as clearly as he could. He wondered whether they had seen what they were doing to the world and whether they regretted it as much as Light was.

But, Light couldn't stop now. He was walking the path of fanatic and once you started, you couldn't stop until you reached the bitter end. He was walking the path of a god, of the dedicated, of the leader, of the murderer and he couldn't stop. He would fall eventually, as every dictator did, as every villain, every antagonist eventually did. Because while it was human nature to want to follow rules and follow orders, after a while, they would want freedom again, and he would fall, and his utopia would crumble around him.

_Hypocrite_, the ghost of L whispered in his mind and Light could only stare at his own reflection and wonder when his end was coming.


	9. Frenzied Aberration

**Frenzied Aberration**

**Summary: Mello can't be...Mello isn't! ...Surely...not? He's-things like that don't change! Just because it's on the paper, doesn't necessarily mean it's true, right? He just can't be... Rated T for sensitive issues about psychological issues and language. Happy Birthday, Mels?**

Mello stared at the results of the physical test in horror as he gripped the sides of the paper. Besides him, he could hear the easy joking from the rest of the class about their own sheets of paper, but Mello could only stare at his in utter disbelief. This didn't make any sense. There had to be a mistake. There _had_ to be a mistake. This…just couldn't be right. He just wasn't….

He couldn't be...

(X)

The physical and mental test had been introduced after the untimely suicide of A and the consequential running-away of B. The administration had panicked and quickly threw together these tests a week after both of the alarming events occurred. Mello had been seven at the time and had missed that test, by a lucky (or not-so-lucky) accident. He was now currently ten years old, receiving the results of another, impromptu test for everybody, after F had jumped off a bridge in Winchester.

Mello hadn't known A personally. She'd been something of a legend if he was honest. The older generations didn't really interact with the younger ones, seeing as they were all learning different things. A was a legend, being first and the best at everything she ever attempted. She was closely followed by her ever constant companion, second place B, with the black eyes that felt like they stared into your soul and the smirks that were just a tad too cruel and the laugh that was just a little too brittle. They didn't interact with many people apart from each other. None of the elder generation did. Though, Concord had a tendency to help out people with homework and generally be as nice as she could.

C was Concord to everyone, the name that she'd chosen. She'd hated being called Concession and had chosen a new nickname immediately. D was Deuteronomy and Mello didn't really see the hyperactive and slightly insane boy much, apart from at lunch, where he occasionally had conversations with seemingly, the table. E was Extra, which was a harsh moniker, and had been modified by the stern and firm boy, to Echelon.

F…well, F was just plain weird. Crazy was probably pushing it, but humans fear those who are different, this Mello knew. (Would they fear him if this ever got out…?) With a tendency to smile just a bit too long and laugh randomly for no reason, he scared people. Mello knew it was likely that he was just autistic in dealing with people, but it didn't make it any less scary when he was studying in the library to hear cackling coming from the next row over. It didn't make his death any less sad.

He didn't know them well. He didn't care about them particularly. Yet he'd cried at the funeral for A four years ago and had cried at the very recent funeral for F. Why?

(X)

Mello had always identified himself as a boy. His parents had named him after the archangel Michael for a reason. He sounded like a boy, he identified as a boy, and for those who really wanted to know, he had male genitalia. He couldn't…there was no way…

But, he couldn't deny that he wasn't exactly the perfect definition of a boy. His features were androgynous at best, girlish at their worst. His hair ended up looking 'long' no matter what Mello did to it, so Mello had eventually given up and let it stay chin length. And well, he wasn't exactly the strongest. When he'd first arrived at the orphanage, despite being a perfectly healthy child, he hadn't been able to arm-wrestle a single person and win. He had become relatively strong with his several hours training and training in the gym, but he'd never been naturally gifted with the strength that was usually present in boys.

And then, as Matt, his ever present roommate liked to point out when Mello was particularly annoying him, he didn't exactly have the most boyish tendencies.

He fussed with his appearance and hair on some days. He painted his nails black, something that had been particularly embarrassing when Matt had walked in on him trying to hurriedly touch up on them in the bathroom. He tended to wear tighter clothing and often adjusted his posture to suit, making him look particularly girly in lessons, when he crossed his legs to be more comfortable. He'd colourcoded all of his supplies, notebooks and planning materials and he routinely tidied everything, hating things that were dirty and he knew that this most definitely wasn't normal.

No one brought it up of course, (apart from Matt, who was an idiot anyway) too afraid of Mello's anger and his revenge. He liked to think that he was almost as scary as F and B had been to him as a child. It was somewhat saddening really, that if he left, people would more than likely rejoice, but it kept people away from him in his scheme to beat Near and gain the title of L, which was for the best in any case.

Another thing that had perhaps hinted at this, if he'd cared to take notice; his tendency to obsess over things. Grades, religion, beating Near, Johnny Depp for a short unspeakable period…

Either way, it was slightly recognizable, but still! It meant that he wasn't exactly the most masculine person that had ever existed. Did every boy need to be similar? He'd been second place in the most competitive school in the world, and that was surely proof that he had been doing something right! Mello was an organized and clever boy!

But, the sheet was undeniable in its stark reality.

_Name: Mello_

_Age: 10 and four months_

_DOB: 13/12/1989_

_Blood Type: A+_

_Gender: Female (XX)_

XX was the chromosomal composition for a girl; they'd learnt that almost three years ago. The sheet wasn't wrong in that. But he wasn't a girl! He…just couldn't be. There was no plausible way that he could be a girl and…well, have male sex organs. It just didn't make sense!

There was always the possibility that they'd tested his blood wrong…but they'd gotten his blood type correct. He'd have to ask Roger. And what an awkward conversation that would be.

"Mels, are you okay? You seem to be glaring at nothing again." asked Matt, who'd casually shoved the paper inside his bag.

"Nothing." Mello said curtly, forcing his fingers around the paper to slowly uncurl and neatly fold the creases again so that it would fit back inside its envelope. He places it inside his bag and forces a smirk onto his face. "No mental problems, Matt?"

"None. Unless you count 'excessive laziness and lack of motivation' as a mental illness. You?" Matt says, as he kicks back in his chair.

"Possible signs of inferiority complex and anger problems. Pssh. He tried suggesting PTSD too. What next? Schizophrenia? Hallucinations? My parents were Mafia members, not drug addicts. " Under ordinary circumstances, Mello would have been infuriated by what the therapist was suggesting, but he could care less about that. He wasn't a bloody girl, dammit! He was a boy! The paper had made a mistake.

"Haha, you might want to look into those anger issues, mate." Matt drawled, his American accent particularly prominent.

Mello shoves him and Matt collapses out of his chair with a laugh and the whole class stares at them with amused familiarity. "You're digging yourself into a bigger pit!" he exclaimed and Mello had rolled his eyes and very purposefully didn't cross his legs over, despite his concentration abilities reducing by approximately 20% in the uncomfortable position.

(X)

If Matt notices the smell of burning in the air when he comes back to their room after his programming lesson, he doesn't say anything to Mello. The results are firmly gone. Mello has adjusted both the computer records and created a new, identical paper copy of the sheet that they had given, with the gender of a normal boy.

There was more to change than he thought. He had an abnormal testosterone rate and an abnormal oestrogen rate. Hormones weren't quite right and his skeletal structure seemed to have more of an emphasis on the hips…all of the information was deleted or modified. There were 100 students at Wammy's House, nobody was going to be able to keep track of every little detail, even if he was second place.

There, it was done. He was normal. Sensible. Ordinary. Correct…. Right?

(X)

It became more awkward as puberty came around, because Matt and Mello were changing and Mello's changes weren't quite the same as Matt's. No, it didn't mean that he grew breasts. He wasn't a girl! Not in that way! But, it was slightly more subtle, the changes between them.

Both of their voices deepened, but while Matt sounded like a man, Mello sounded like a girl pretending to be a man, when he wasn't throwing his voice (which became normality pretty quickly, to fit in with everybody.)Matt had launched into a sudden growth spurt, growing about a foot in a week, much to Mello's chagrin, with his 'inch per month increase'.

Both of their shoulders had broadened, but to Mello's vexation, he'd also noticed a significant increase in his hip bones. Not to the extent that Xenia, one of the remnants of the third generation, had, with her curvy Asian figure, but definitely larger hips than Jason or Matt.

Matt gained weight and muscle placement around the shoulders, legs and arms, but all Mello seemed to do was get steadily thinner as his height shot up and his weight didn't increase. No extra muscle that hadn't already been gained through his fastidious physical working was added onto Mello. As he lost fat, his facial features started looking even more like a girl's and he wasn't growing much facial hair. Where Matt was having to shave every alternate day, Mello's skin stayed conspicuously smooth of acne or facial hair.

He hated it. Every little difference he noticed and catalogued, just one more reason that he wasn't quite like a guy. And well, he knew about the embarrassing part of being a male, he'd heard horror stories from the older generation, yet Mello had never experienced anything of the kind, even when he sometimes noticed Matt dashing off the bathroom in the mornings, when previously, Mello had to tip him out of bed to even get him to register anything.

And of course, the worst part was that it wasn't that he was asexual (like he suspected Near to be) because he wasn't. Nope, it was even worse. His last chance of trying to prove that he was completely male was demolished when he found himself staring a little too long at the very attractive sub teacher for Literature that they'd gained from the town while their other teacher was on maternity leave. And this teacher was very much male and very much straight, considering the picture of him kissing his girlfriend on the desk.

And Mello had been instantly aware and instantly ashamed. Not of being gay; that was hardly an affliction, even if it was against the Catholic religion, but of the fact that his last chances of being able to fake manliness was gone. He wondered sometimes what his mafia father would have thought of all of this, but reminds himself that he and his mother are in prison for life, for a very good reason.

(X)

With the news of Kira and his parents' death and then L's death, Mello's puberty issues were pushed out of his mind by the more important demands of getting food, shelter and a steady job. He'd moved to LA as quickly as he could, leaving the orphanage and the pretense of being a complete boy behind with it. He'd catch Kira before Near and do it without being either a girl or a boy.

He's not a girl, but it's obvious to him that he's not a boy. He knows that people like this, identify as transsexual but Mello knows that this term mostly applies to people who are one gender but identify or feel like the other. Mello was a weird mix of both and was starting to think that he was neither.

He'd started to dress like he was neither as well. Tight leather, that was cool to the touch that accentuated the fact that he was attractive. He knew that he was and even if his insides were screwed up, he still managed to look effortlessly flawless. He also wore large stomping boots, to tell people that he was there and fur to creep them out.

He'd hated that Rod Ross called him pretty boy those days they'd interacted before Mello had killed the rival boss, but it had been true. He wore leather gloves too, for several reasons. Hands collect the most dirt and residue and Mello was scouring the alleyways of LA and dealing with death and blood on a regular basis. His neat-freak tendencies still remained, so it was a way of keeping himself clean. It was also a way of keeping himself relatively unreadable to people. Mostly, when he deduced a person's life story, he focused on their hands to gain most of his information (it was all in the fingernails and calluses on the pads of the knuckle and sides of the finger).

His hands were blemish free, which created a false impression of him. They saw a spoilt brat who's never worked a day in his life. But Mello knows hard work almost as well as he knows the insides of a gun.

It'd been almost eight years since Mello had touched a gun, but it had been familiar in his hands as he'd killed his first person at the age of fifteen. He took down mafia leaders, manipulated people to his side and generally rose up the ranks of the Mafia with his hard work and his cruel ruthless smile. He wasn't a genius for nothing. And if he did a little bit of sexual experimenting on the side with both genders, no one really cared. Being part of the Mafia was being able to shut up and not comment about it.

(X)

And now look at him. Nineteen with half of his face blown off, all of his hard-earned cronies and henchmen dead or incarcerated, and there he was, left with only two options, both of which involved shoving himself back into some stupid gender stereotyped role. He'd enjoyed not being either. And the lesser of the two evils was calling Matt for help.

He still wasn't quite sure how he did it, but he'd somehow made it back to his crappy apartment and got on the phone to Matt. He wasn't sure whether he'd faked his voice or not or even whether he'd given Matt his address, but less than a day later, Mello woke up to a gentle prodding around his shoulder.

"Matt?" Mello asked, throwing his voice downwards.

"You really screwed yourself up this time, didn't you Mels?" said the familiar voice of his friend.

"Just a little." Mello says, quirking his mouth up in a wry smile.

""Can you see?" asked Matt and Mello opens his eyes. His right eye opens, but all his left eye sees is blackness.

"Not out of my left." Mello says, just a twinge of regret to himself. Brilliant. One-eyed Mello. Maybe he should get an eyepatch and become Pirate Mello.

"Well obviously. Considering the left half of your body is covered in bandages, you really shouldn't be able to see out of your left. I wanted to know if your right eye is okay, because the strongest part of the burns is along your back, a little too close to the spinal cord for my liking. Heck, any of you blown up isn't too my liking. What the hell happened, Mello?" Matt rants, as he prods Mello's bandages. Mello smacks his hand away.

"Kira happened." Mello says, frowning. He isn't wearing his shirt and his trousers barely survived. At least he's somewhat modest. And when did he care about that? He was supposed to be a boy now, and boys didn't care about these sorts of things, especially not around other males.

"Kira blew you up? What happened to good old heart attacks?" asked Matt, looking skeptical. Mello groaned.

"It's a long story."

"I've got nothing but time. I quit my job in San Fran and rushed down through Central Valley to get here for you. I was scared out of my wits, you know that?! Out of the blue call from five years of next-to-no-contact, and you sound like you're half dead, and when I come into your shitty apartment, you're even worse off than I ever imagined." Matt exclaims and Mello can only feel guilty.

"You didn't have to quit. I just needed to get patched up. I can't get a proper doctor or else the fake L and Kira will find me. Or even worse, Near will find me. And I knew you took all of the First Aid coursed with me at Wammy's House." Mello explained, as he eased himself up onto the sofa.

"I'm not a doctor Mels. That only ever taught us to deal with burns and cuts and gunshot wounds. It didn't teach us to deal with nerve damage or grafting skin or even how to make sure your patient is properly anaesthetized. That's all thanks to the internet and the surprisingly helpful pharmacy assistants here in LA. And of course I quit my job, Mels. I've been waiting five years for the call." Matt said, as he lifted up about eight different anaesthetics that were lying on his coffee table. Well. No wonder he couldn't feel anything.

"Waiting?" Mello asked.

"You've always needed support. You've always welcomed my support as well. And, you can't do everything by yourself. I can help you." Matt said and Mello frowned and nodded after a sigh, and started to narrate what had happened after L's death.

(X)

The next two months while Mello recovered and gathered information about Kira was awkward. Mello had decided, that being poor, he was going to have to stick to his previous style of clothing, which had been met by some raised eyebrows from Matt. But, for once, Matt hadn't questioned his decisions, which had been nice.

Mello had also spent a lot of time poking his scar and hiding it underneath his rapidly growing hair. Perhaps the only good thing that had come from the explosion was that he now properly looked like a man. Any uncertainty about gender was gone from the harsh lines and the almost permanent scowl on his face. He had also lost all feeling in his left leg and the movement in his left shoulder was forced and strained. The effects of nerve endings being severed. Matt said he was lucky to have escaped with as little as that.

He often ended up walking in on Matt getting changed or doing something in their tiny, cramped flat and vice versa, something that made Mello almost blush. He'd seen much worse at the Mafia HQ, of course, but nothing he'd been particularly attracted to. Not like Matt, who was definitely something Mello knew he could fall for or be distracted by. Not a weakness.

He'd quickly decided that he needed information on Kira quickly, which had led to contacting Lidner, simply because he knew that she was the most likely to be receptive to his ideas. And she had been, even if there was an underlying sense of her wanting something more than just exchanging information. And he'd found out a lot of information from her willingly, but he'd needed more. He'd attempted to gain as much information as he could from Near, but the little twat had given him the picture…

(X)

Near had all the information that Mello did and vice versa. It was high stakes. Whomever won, won. And Mello intended to win. Just…not as avidly as he had before. If Near won, it wouldn't sting as much as Mello had thought it would before. No, now he wanted revenge for the scar and the numbness in his body. As long as Kira died, Mello really didn't mind who won amongst them. He'd just prefer it to be him; that was all.

(X)

The task of keeping surveillance of Amane and the Task force headquarters was irritating. Dealing with surveillance of Amane was just dull, and the only reason he didn't let Matt take over his duty on that aspect was because of his little sense of right and wrong. He felt no attraction towards Amane and therefore wouldn't be tempted to do something stupid like 'fall in love' with her. After all, as Matt felt the need to point out on a frequent basis, Misa was a 'very cute young girl'.

After about the twentieth time, Mello had snapped and shouted. "I get it, Matt! She's attractive! Can you please keep focused?! She's the bloody second Kira, and she'll as soon as kill you than date you, got it?"

"It's unlikely she'd date me anyway." Matt said, sounding highly amused, over the telephone's crackly line, "I am gay."

Mello, to his credit, didn't splutter too much. Just a little cough and a sort of dying noise. "Mels?" asked Matt, over the phone, sounding a little worried.

"…We need to have a chat about when this kind of announcement is appropriate. Just…keep a watch on the headquarters of the NPA, okay? Don't slack off!" Mello sternly announced, and he could hear Matt snickering a little on the other side. Mello wanted nothing more than to hit him. That proved he was a guy, right? Guys had violent tendencies. Though, from what he'd seen of Lidner, girls weren't exactly exempt from temper tantrums.

…Damn Matt; Mello hadn't been trying to justify to himself that he was a man or a woman for five years, and all of his progress goes down the drain with one little announcement. How he hated (loved) that man.

(X)

"Okay, announcing that you're gay over the phone when we're in the middle of the job?" said Mello, the moment he walked back inside their shared flat, "Not cool."

"Why not?" asked Matt, not even looking up from his video game, "It needed to be said at some point."

"Not when I'm trying to concentrate, goddammit! Paying attention to that…that woman is so difficult. She's mind-numbingly boring, so I don't need more interesting topics distracting me!" Mello snapped, as he went for the chocolate in the fridge. He was only ever free when Amane went to sleep, which meant he kept the same times and hours as she did, much to his annoyance, especially when she woke up at 6 in the morning and went to bed at what was almost midnight.

"Are you calling me interesting, Mels?" he asked, a wry tone to his voice.

'What I'm calling you, is annoying and distracting." Mello said, as he placed his shoes up on the table as he slouched into his armchair.

"Why? Is it that big a deal that I'm gay?" asked Matt, looking up. He very deliberately scanned his eyes over Mello's clothing style. "I didn't think you, of all people, were bigoted."

"It's not a 'big deal' at all, considering I also align myself in that category. However, we are working on the Kira case, and I'm trying to figure who he is and how to get proof of it without dying. That takes some concentration, Matt." Mello calmly said, as he finished his chocolate.

Matt's eyebrows rose. "You're gay too? Should have figured."

"Not every gay person dresses like I do. Your wardrobe _more_ than attests to the fact that gay people can have an awful sense of fashion." Mello said, a smirk on his face, as he kicked off his boots.

Matt laughed and they lapsed into silence.

"When did you figure it out?" Matt asked, looking a mixture of curious and mortified.

"When I was around 13 or something. After feeling rather lustful feelings towards Johnny Depp and the sub teacher we had for Lit, I think I had enough of a brain to figure it out." Mello said, dryly. Matt chuckled a little.

"You aren't escaping this, now that you asked me." Mello said, sternly. "What about you?"

Matt flushed a little and looked away. "You're going to laugh."

"Most likely." Mello agreed and Matt snorted a little.

"Ever honest, aren't you, Mels?" he said, sounding rather bitter. "It's since I moved in with you."

Mello felt his brain freeze, shut down and explode simultaneously. He wondered whether Matt could hear it too. His hands were shaking a little, as he palmed his face a little.

"Mels?" he asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Matt, do you like me in that way?" Mello asked, struggling to keep his voice calm.

"I…don't know. I think so. I'm fairly certain that I do." Matt said, and he sounded rather scared now.

"Good." Mello said, before leaning forward and pulling Matt into a harsh kiss. Their noses collided and Matt's goggles pressed against the bridge of Mello's nose in a rather painful manner, but Mello didn't care, because Matt was responding with as much enthusiasm as Mello had instigated the kiss with.

They broke apart for air and Mello stared at Matt's flushed face a little. "Lust or love?" Mello asked, his voice sounding a little closer to his normal voice than he would have liked.

"Both." Matt said, before they pulled into another kiss, with slightly less awkwardness. Mello wasn't without experience in this, and it was fairly apparent that Matt didn't know much about how these things worked. Not that Mello was much better when it came to the part where taking off clothes were involved, but kissing?

Matt pulled away, looking a little reluctant. "What happens afterwards?" he whispers.

Mello shrugs. "Life goes on. We keep searching for evidence and when it's all over, once Kira's dead, we can go on some kind of adventure. Just the two of us. Make something out of our lives for a change."

"You're that confident?" Matt asked, his voice barely audible.

"No." Mello says, as brutally honest as ever, "But it won't stop me from trying."

"It never has." Matt agrees, before they spring into another tantalizing kiss.

(X)

It's around two in the morning and they're curled up in the same bed. The heat of LA is almost unbearable and Mello's mostly gotten rid of the duvet. Matt's leant back against his side and his hair is somewhat ticklish against Mello's bare chest. But that's not what's keeping him awake.

"Matt." Mello murmured and Matt nodded.

"What is it, Mels?"

"I'm not who you think I am." Mello said.

Matt turned around and looked at him, a slightly bemused look in his blue eyes. "Don't tell me, you're Misa Amane in disguise, secretly wanted to jump me after I've been stalking you for days."

Mello snorted and Matt grinned. Damn, but Matt knew how to break the tension. "Seriously Matt. I'm…not really who you think I am."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Go on then. Who are you?"

"It's not a question of name or identity. I'm…not a girl or a boy." Mello said.

Matt, to his credit, barely reacted to this. "Really? Then what have I been making love to for the past hour? An alien?"

Mello smacked him and Matt snickered just a little.

"I'm serious, you bastard! You remember back when we got those stupid physical tests after F died?" Mello snarled.

Matt's eyebrows rose. "I remember," he said, "The one that indicated mental issues and anger problems? Because, I could have seen that coming a mile away."

"Would you stop joking around, Matt?!" Mello snaps, letting his real voice finally surface. Matt's eyebrows furrow a little bit and Mello laughs, bitterly, and it's high-pitched.

"This is what I sound like when I'm not faking a man's voice." Matt is finally silent and looks at Mello, with an honest looks on confusion and worry. "I've never had to shave once in my life. I've never had the early morning problems, because I don't have sperm. I have a low amount of testosterone and a high amount of oestrogen. Who knows what other hormones deficiencies I have? And, the final straw is that I have two X chromosomes. I'm some sick twisted version of a human being, and fuck! I don't even know what I'm supposed to be anymore!"

Matt is quiet before he grabs Mello's hand. "You're Mello, otherwise known as Mihael Keehl. You're a genius from the most advanced school in the world. You're the former leader of the LA Mafia and the son of the leader of the German Mafia. You're fighting Kira and Near and you're the first person that I ever loved. Isn't that enough?"

And damn, but Mello can't stop the tears that escape from his eyes, even if he bites his lip firmly. He feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off of his shoulders. He's never felt this liberated, this free. Someone knows about his abnormality, his aberration and they didn't care. He didn't care. Gods, he loved Matt more than he'd ever expected.

He hasn't cried since L's death, not since he recreated himself to not be quite as broken as he had been before. But he'd never felt like he'd come to terms with his abnormality. Not like he does now.

Matt pulls him into a hug and Mello accepts it easily. If it were daytime, Mello would have shoved him off, but in the dark peace of the room, Mello can't bring himself to emulate the male half of himself. "How long have you held this with you?" Matt asks.

"Nearing eight years now." Mello says, inbetween harsh sobs. It's not in any way attractive and he's sniffling as the tears stop and he can barely control his shaking arms, but Matt doesn't even seem to register it, as he strokes Mello's hair softly.

"No wonder you're half mad." Matt says and Mello snorts and breaks into a somewhat hysterical laughter.

"You're digging yourself into a bigger pit." Matt said easily, just like he'd done many a time back at Wammy's and Mello pushes him gently.

"Shut up, Matt." Mello says, silencing him with a kiss. Mello's somewhat broken and possibly insane, but he's more at peace with himself than he's been for eight years. All's well that ends well, indeed.

**AN: First of all, I have nothing against intersexual people. In fact, I hold them in great respect for what they have to deal with every day. Mello's just not got a clue about what he's undergoing and thinks that he's a freak. This is due to his condition being discovered in 2001, where the ethical and psychological ideas behind transgender and intersexual people were first being explored and discovered, rather than in full place like they are today.**

**There is a long and complex medical condition for this, called Congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Mello's got a rarer form of it here, but it's a fairly common, if unknown, recessive disorder. I've not even started to delve into the complex psychological things that can happen to children with this disorder, but they aren't great. **

**It's strange actually, how much evidence I could actually take from canon to make this little theory of Mello's symptoms. The nail polish, the clothing, the strangely feminine voice (at times, especially in the English dub), the androgynous face and the way he thinks. There are some very feminine things in there, which isn't a bad thing at all; it makes Mello a more complex character, it just always made me wonder. **

**By the way, this is not my head-canon, just an idea I wished to toy with, that happily coincided with Mello's birthday! Happy Birthday Mello! You're a tormented intersexual! **


	10. Dream A Little Bigger, Darling

**Dream a Little Bigger, Darling**

**Summary: What if the criminals that L hired in chapter 40 weren't Wedy and Aiber? What if it was Arthur and Eames? Take this as set after Inception occurred and in chapter 40 onwards.**

"Hello, I'm Eames. I'm a con-artist." said the man in casual suit, that was slightly unbuttoned. He had a British accent and looked smug, with his hands shoved in his pockets. His brown hair was slightly unkempt, he wore the most atrocious bright pink shirt that Light's ever seen and he looked like he hadn't shaved for days. Light frowned, what was L thinking?

"Arthur. A thief and professional researcher." said the other man. He wore a three piece, grey suit, he was clean-shaven and his hair was neatly slicked back. If it weren't for the dark circles under his eyes, Light would have thought that he was a CEO of a major company or something like that.

"A thief and a con-artist?" asked his father looking shaky.

"Hey, don't be so disparaging, I'm the best at what I do. I have five degrees. One in psychology, diplomacy and then three different languages." Eames said, looking smugger. "All either from Oxford or Cambridge." Yet he still dressed like a cheap tourist wearing the tackiest suit that Light had ever seen.

"Not that they mean much when you're a criminal." Arthur said easily, a smirk tugging at his face, "You're also wanted for corporate espionage and scamming in 40 different countries."

"Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't mention that!" said Eames, looking offput. Light snickered a little.

"Arthur is also wanted in four different countries and has eight different bounty prices on his head from other corporate agencies." L said, looking very innocent as he declared this. "I would say that this puts him on the same level as Eames."

Arthur rolled his eyes a little. "I have three degrees as well as a Masters in psychology, and bit of military experience. Also, I'm good with security systems."

"Yes, he got into this building unnoticed; that was a bit of fine work, Arthur." said L, looking very pleased.

"Are…we going to investigate with criminals?" asked his father looking a little nervous.

"Not the sort that Kira punishes." L says, "I would think of them as…. professional consultants from the black market, if that will put you at ease. I have a few more possible helpers, but they're reluctant to show their face until absolutely necessary. And I completely agree with that sentiment. If we are still inefficient, even with the addition of these two to help us, then I shall draft them in. I couldn't do this while Yagami-san was still with the police, but now…"

"L's right, Dad," Light spoke up, after taking appraising looks of the criminals. "We'll need their help to crack Yotsuba. Let's do this together!"

Matsuda and his father agreed with reluctance, while Eames' look was firmly on the handcuffs that joined L and Light together.

"So what is that, L? Some kind of kink? I didn't think you were into that sort of thing." Eames asked, his voice sly and teasing as he motioned towards the handcuffs.

Arthur doubled over in a coughing fit and Light suppressed a sigh as L's face contorted into a wry amusement. This was going to be intolerable.

(X)

"So, here's the personal information of all 8 of the people that Matsuda saw in the meeting." Arthur said, handing out rather large files of information to everybody. "The main information that would be on passports and things is on the black marked pages. Personal information is marked with blue. Finances and work related things are in red."

"God, you really are OCD, aren't you darling?" asked Eames as he flicked through the sheets, indifferently, the grey jacket he wore contrasting awfully with his gaudy purple and yellow shirt. Arthur kicked his chair out from under him and Eames fell to the ground with a thud. Light smirked just a little, he'd deserved that.

"Payback." said Arthur, a smirk on his face and Eames shook his head.

"It's true what they say, isn't it? Elephants like yourself never forget stuff. That was a year ago!" he said, looking incredulous.

"Gentlemen." reminded Light and Arthur stiffened a little and took a seat.

"If you examine the data, there's no indication of any personal deaths around them, which means that Kira isn't using these murders are a personal thing like initially assumed, Light." said Arthur quickly, as he scanned through the information.

"Which means that they're solely using the deaths to further their business? Doesn't seem like something fits." said Light's father.

"No, it means that Kira is being held back. By the other eight perhaps?" Light asked and L nodded, inbetween eating Ohagi.

"That's right. The eight of them are tagged along and are playing together in this. I think this Kira must be a block-headed coward who cannot do anything by himself." L said, firmly

"I wouldn't say that, L. Sure, he's less competent than the previous Kira, but surely, he's clever in this at least? Assuming he knows that he isn't very clever, he's made himself a plan where that and his identity aren't revealed. The eight of them corroborate each death, if Matsuda is to be believed, to make sure that they don't make foolish mistakes. And they're all very different and see different perspectives. They could be fairly dangerous because of this, and we shouldn't underestimate them." Eames said, his voice serious as he looked through the file.

"Yes, but they've already made the mistake of centring the deaths around the weekend. This shows that amongst them, they are still pretty dumb." Light argued, looking up at the screen that was showing their faces and names.

"That might have been the choice of Kira rather than the whole group. We'll never know until we get evidence of their meetings." mused Eames. "I'm working on getting close to Kida, the man who contacted and asked for Eraldo Coil to investigate L, but that'll take a long time. He's agreed to give me five million dollars as an advance and as hush money but he wants to see my face and wants to talk to me."

Arthur sharpened, suddenly. "The surveillance however, is easily arranged. Their security system is nothing special, just got the added security guards, and their easy to get through. A simple sedative or buying off the guards on duty at the time, or even sneaking in between patrol times would be enough to bug the meeting room. That I could do in about half an hour once I get the info about Yotsuba."

"Then do it. Watari knows a spyware professional and the meeting is tomorrow night, Friday." L said, "If you can do it, we'll be able to monitor their meeting instantaneously."

(X)

"There's only seven of them." Light said quietly as the board members finally entered the room. He was leaning on L's chair.

"And they're wearing black suits. They're in mourning." Eames said, leaning on Light's shoulder. Light shrugged him off and Eames laughed.

"So one of the eight—" Light's father hesitated at stating his hypothesis, but L didn't.

"Has been killed by the others. Yes." L said calmly, as Ooi talked about who they would plan to kill. Light frowned and leant forward as he watched Namikawa explain why he was glad about his comrade's death. A clever man, Namikawa, good with words and with people's feelings. Though he felt bad about this, he sympathized most with Namikawa of the seven board members.

"Here's your part, Eames." Arthur murmured as Ooi passed around Eraldo Coil's information, "Let's hope that they can't see any irregularities."

"Don't patronize me darling, I'm not stupid. I have worked successful missions before. You actually have a lower success rate than me." Eames said, acidly.

Arthur merely inclined his head sideways. Light sighed and clicked his fingers impatiently. L shot him a grateful look. Light wondered why L worked with them sometimes, they never seemed to stop talking.

"They're spilling the beans like there's no tomorrow!" Matsuda exclaimed as the conversation progressed about the Yotsuba killing times and Higuchi generally disparaging Coil's existence.

"We can arrest them for sure with this tape." His father said. But Light saw L tense up at these words. Odd. Why was that more concerning to L than the fact that Higuchi was acting very suspiciously and that the people could determine the death's time?

"They're planning on reducing the deaths?" Eames said, with a frown as the first part of the meeting wrapped up. "That's good for the lives of people but bad for collecting evidence. With the scarcity of the deaths, it is more difficult to create a pattern…"

"We don't need a patterns, Eames." L said calmly, "We already know the motive. Monetary gain. What we want are the means. How are they able to kill the way that they are?"

Light suddenly gasped as they all agreed on the ELF corporation deaths. "What is this…just like that?!" he mouthed, feeling horrified. His father seemed to agree, judging by his face.

He felt Arthur's hand on his shoulder. "Death happens, kid. Sometimes, there's just nothing you can do." Light nodded, pulling his composure back together with a firm resolve.

"From this, it's definitely. They're asking for accidental deaths, from a stroke and they can specify time and location. Undoubtedly, we've got them."

"Not yet, Light-kun. Until the names mentioned actually die, we haven't sufficient evidence." L said, pressing a thumb to his mouth as he stared at the screen. "If we observe the words and actions of the seven at the meeting and then those two people die, we will undoubtedly find Kira."

L seemed set to take a large bite of ice-cream but Light growled. "Ryuuzaki!" he snapped and L shut his mouth and turned around to glare at Light balefully. His father had shouted it at the same time, sounding quite aghast.

"Must both of you shout in unison?" asked L, looking irked.

"You can't just wait for them to die! That's completely ruthless! I won't let you do it!" Light said, looking angry. L merely looked petulant.

His father stepped in. "The tape and Matsuda's evidence are more than enough to convict the criminals. There is no need to stand by and let murder occur."

"I never said anything about letting them commit murder yet. But we cannot prove anything unless those two die. What's important now, is that if we arrest them, we lose and everything is ruined." L explained quietly, as he sipped the melted ice-cream away from his bowl.

"Don't we have the mobile numbers of the seven people, Light? We can ask for the police's help for intercepting their calls to prevent the deaths from happening." His father appealed, looking a little desperate.

"The police aren't reliable right now." Arthur cut in, "That's why you were forced off the case; because the government are scared of Kira. You can't ask the police to do anything, because the information will leak."

"Then we'll just call them and tell them we've found them out." said Light's father, grabbing his mobile phone.

"No, you won't." Eames said, looking annoyed. "That would ruin all of the effort that I've put in to get close to them. They're figured out three days after I contacted them? They'll obviously connect me with L and my life will be in danger because the suspicion would be firmly on myself."

"That is right, Eames," L said, sipping his tea, "If we intervene now, we will likely lose our chance of catching Kira and all of our efforts will be in vain."

"But, isn't human life our priority?" asked Light, frowning as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Perhaps, but we need concrete evidence to truly be able to defeat them. And if a few more lives are extinguished now to stop a thousand deaths later, I believe it is worth it." L interjected, sounding a little irritated. "If we continue to conduct our investigation, we will find the evidence we need, because it is there to be found."

"How can you be sure?" asked Light's father, and to everyone's surprise, Matsuda answered, looking very serious.

"It's because Kira killed the FBI Agents and Lind L Tailor." He said, evenly, "He killed them for a reason right? He wouldn't have broken his track record of killing only criminals without a huge motive behind that. And both the FBI Agents and Lind L Tailor issued a challenge as to finding his identity. The fact that he killed them, means that they were closing to figuring out who he was, which means that there is something to find?" He ended with a question and L nodded, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Correct, Matsuda-san."

"But we must intervene in some way. We cannot simply let all of the officials of ELF die!" said Light's father, and suddenly, the perfect solution hit Light, like a sack of bricks. He knew what to do.

(X)

Misa grinned as she held out a phone that played the condemning evidence. Matsuda gawked at her in shock and Eames looked grudgingly overwhelmed. L and Arthur however seemed less than impressed.

Light merely gaped at her. "Misa… How did you get Higuchi to say this?"

Misa grinned, and twirled her hair around her finger. "Higuchi has a huge crush on Misa and when Misa said she'd marry him if he were Kira, he admitted to it. Oh, and he thinks that I'm the second Kira."

Light felt his eyes widen, despite himself. "Misa! I thought we agreed that you wouldn't agree to that! You were to deny all accusation, and only agree that you'd been restrained for being the second Kira!"

"But, it worked didn't it?" she asked, looking sheepish.

"No, because if they discuss it in a meeting, we're no closer to finding out who's the killer is!" Light shouted and Misa looked despondent and slightly nervous. But then something occurred to him. "Wait…if the killings stop, we can ask Namikawa if it came up in the meetings or not, right?"

"Yes, that is correct, Light-kun. If Higuchi were Kira, nothing will have come up in the meetings, he can just stop killing. If he isn't, it will have come up."

"Can we guarantee that Namikawa will tell the truth though?" asked Light's father.

"Yeah, I should think so," Eames answered, "The guy's scared of L and L's reputation. He's torn between Kira and L in terms of action, but he'll give out information for no cost."

"In any case," L said, as he stacked a large amount of sugar cubes on top of each other, "If the killings stop, we can be certain that Higuchi is Kira."

Misa jumped up in delight but Light frowned. "We can't stop here though, we still haven't figured out how Higuchi is killing."

"Yes, that's right. I would like to know how he is managing to kill remotely before we capture him."

"Yes," Eames interjected, "But that part's easy, now we have a clear suspect."

"Easy?" Light asked, staring at Eames, who ignored him and turned towards L.

"Eames is suggesting Extraction." L says and the word sounds like L is not fond of the idea. His father and Matsuda both stare at L and Eames, with mingled looks of horror. Arthur straightens and smiles a little wistfully, the first positive emotion that Light has seen from him, other than smug satisfaction.

"What? What's extraction?" asked Light.

L ignores both of them. "Extraction costs an awful lot of money, Eames."

"Not really," Arthur interjects. "That's only to pay the people involved and to create a situation where the target is vulnerable. The people involved are me and Eames. You're already paying us a trifle amount, we don't need much more."

"The only other person we need is an architect, and the person I have in mind will do it for a pretty cheap fee, she loves the idea of dreamscaping and would most likely do it for us as a favour for lending her time on a PASIV." Eames said with a smirk.

Arthur frowned. "We're not getting Ariadne involved in this. She has a college degree to finish, in Paris, and risking her life in this way_, again_, might I add, is not going to happen."

"She's the best and we need the best." Eames said calmly and Light growled.

"What is extraction?" he demanded again and Matsuda answered, looking grim.

"Extraction is when you take information from a person's mind through their dreams, where their secrets are much more open. I'm not quite sure on the mechanics of it, but there's some machine called a PASIV that links the dreamers together and this allows people to steal information from others. It was developed by the military originally, if I remember correctly? The idea of shared dreaming?"

"However, the act of extraction itself is usually involved corporate crime nowadays though. You may remember Saito Industries flourished very suddenly not a year ago after the collapse of Fischer Inc? We had reason to believe that extraction was involved, especially since Cobol Industries brought up that concern to the FBI who in turn brought it to the ICPO, but the Kira case brought us all up short." Light's father said, sternly, as he took over from Matsuda.

Arthur coughed and looked to the side uncomfortably at this and Eames merely smirked and stretched out.

Light sighs. "You were involved with that, weren't you?"

"Yes." L answers. "They were. About the logistics of this case then?"

Arthur frowned. "Two levels at least, especially if the man's an experienced dreamer. Even if he isn't it is always better to give ourselves as many chances to extract it as possible. First would almost certainly be something like real life, his apartment, maybe? Then I'd have to do research into his likes and dislikes, but I'd find a place that he'd be comfortable in and choose that as the second dreamscape. Eames would distract, I'd do the actual stealing and we'd get out."

"Are we pulling the Mr. Charles Gambit with Higuchi?" asked Eames.

"I wouldn't be comfortable with pulling that off. That kind of bold manoeuvring was always Mal's field and Cobb inherited it. Unless you're willing to tell the subject that they're in a dream, I don't think we'll do it." Arthur said, looking pensive as he flipped open his notebook.

"I think Arthur," said L looking at him, "That I shall be coming along. I have utmost trust in your abilities, but there may be something important inside Higuchi's subconscious that isn't inside the safe. You are all very action oriented, but I need to figure how he's killing them and the two of you alone may miss some important clues."

"Us as well!" Matsuda said, immediately, "Who knows what's in his mind?"

Eames frowned and crossed his arms. "We don't need more tourists. It was bad enough with one tourist, but five of you? Not happening. The maximum we can take along is two people."

L nodded. "Then Light-kun and I will descend into the dream with you Eames."

Light felt his eyebrows rise. He would have liked an opinion, but his answer would have been yes anyway, so it didn't really matter.

"By the way, Misa?" asked Eames, "Will you be willing to help us out again?"

Light frowned and exclaimed. "What? No!" At the same time, Misa squealed and nodded enthusiastically. "Misa-Misa will be happy to help hunt Kira down!"

"Misa, you can't! What if he asks you to kill someone and you can't? That will prove that you aren't the second Kira, and your life will be put in danger." Light said, looking angry.

"In this situation, I think Eames is planning on drugging Higuchi before they can chat for too long." Arthur said slowly. "If Misa asks Higuchi out on another 'date' at her flat, he'll most likely be flattered. Once he comes in, Misa, you'll probably have to slip him a drug in his drink or something; you can toast to success or marriage or something. The drug I plan on using will knock him out immediately. From there, we can wait in the adjacent apartments and deal with the actual dreamscaping. I'll probably ask you to send us into the PASIV, so Eames will probably teach you how to activate it."

"Must it be my actual flat?" asked Misa, her face wrinkling. "I understand that we plan on capturing him, but I don't want him anywhere near my living things. I don't like stalkers…"

"No, it is much more convenient if we can buy out an entire floor of flats somewhere else to prevent any kind of trouble and to keep constant surveillance on the area." L said, pensively. "I would suggest this building, but the security measures would put Higuchi on guard."

"Agreed. I think the flat should be near the area where you live though, Misa," Arthur said, "It makes it slightly more realistic. I mean, Higuchi's not an idiot. You picked that area for a reason, because you're a Yoshida model and it's close to the area where they do most of their shootings."

Misa nodded, seriously. "Also, it's one of the cheaper areas that still manages to remain safe from crime."

Eames nodded. "Okay, let's see if we can get some research done into Higuchi and I'll call in Ariadne from Paris. Got a time limit, Ryuuzaki?"

"As soon as you can make it. Within the month, if possible." L said, as he toppled his tower of sugar cubes into the tea.

Eames and Arthur exchanged looks. "Well, we've worked with worse deadlines." Arthur said, after a while.

"Yeah, but not with a task this delicate." Eames retorted.

"We did Inception in a less amount of time. And that was with a new team member to train." Arthur said, with a frown. Light didn't know what Inception was, but judging by the looks on his father and Matsuda's face, it was unknown to even them. He would ask Eames later once the commotion had died down.

"We have two tourists coming along. They'll need to be trained as well." Eames retorted.

"One tourist. I have been in a dream before, Eames." said L, looking somewhat amused.

"Ariadne and I can deal with Light." Arthur said, "We'll get this done in a month, Ryuuzaki. Don't you worry."

(X)

Just a day later, a young girl with brown hair and a large blue scarf walked into the building, escorted by Watari. She carried a large amount of card and paper along with a carry-on suitcase.

"Hello, is Arthur here?" she asked, as she placed them down on one of the tables that scattered the room.

"Nope," Light said, as L ignored her in favour of his cheesecake, "Arthur and Eames are spying on Higuchi's activities to see what would function as the second level of the dream. The first level however, they've already decided, will be his apartment. They have pictures and textures and specifications for what they want designed into the level."

"Okay." She said, looking a little nervous. "Umm, my name's Ariadne. What about you?"

"Yagami Light." Light said, "And this is Ryuuzaki. You've arrived pretty late, so you just missed Matsuda and my father, but you'll see them in the morning. Are you going to be designing now, or will that wait for the morning?"

"Wait for the morning." She said, "I want to see if what Arthur's using for a sedative will hold a two layer dream. I've only ever used a stronger type of sedative, so I need to see what the normal one will be like."

"Need a hand?" Light asked. "I've got to get accustomed to the whole experience anyway."

"You're one of the tourists right?" she asked. Evidently, Arthur had very thoroughly informed her of their activities.

"Yes, but I prefer Light-kun as a moniker." He deadpanned and L snorted a little.

She giggled and extended the needles from the PASIV device. "Come on then."

"You'll have to come over here." Light said, holding up the handcuff. She looked somewhat worried.

"Umm…"

"Suspect for the Kira case and one of the leading detectives. Don't ask."

She happily complied.

(X)

The first thing that Light could feel about entering this new realm was the sheer potential that vibrated and hummed into the very matter that made up the whole area. He was currently on a warm beach with the sun beating down upon him and the sea gently lapping against the white sand. Ariadne waved at him from where she was currently building a sandcastle without even touching it.

"Can I do something like that?" Light asked as he approached her.

"Sure. Just don't go too crazy or my subconscious will start protesting." Ariadne said, easily, as she conjured up a lounge chair for herself and leant back in it."

"Crazy?" asked Light and she grinned a little sheepishly.

"The reason I exist at all as an architect, creating a plan of the whole dream layout beforehand, is because the mind doesn't like dealing with changes to the dream. Once a dream has been imagined, it must try and stay as similar as possible, otherwise the projections of the subconscious start reacting. They'll start to realize that they're in a dream and they'll stare at the dreamer. The more and more changes are made, the more and more hostile the subconscious becomes. My first dream-sharing experience ended with my subconscious stabbing me and bringing me out of the dream." She explains easily.

Light nodded. "Seeing as there seems to be a conspicuous lack of people here, am I free to create?"

Ariadne nodded. "The more you create, the more of your subconscious will flock here and eventually kill you. But we're counting on that, so don't feel shy."

Light nodded and concentrated on the sea. Slowly but surely, it started turning from its clear, almost blue colour to a vivid, uncomfortably familiar shade of blood red. He then concentrated very hard and the sky started change from the sunny, clear skies to a dark stormy weather. Almost immediately, the sea imitated the sky's tempestuous anger. From the depths of the water, a large dark castle, that Light had based on some of the designs he'd seen from England, rose up from the sea, perched on a volcanic style island. From there, he made a little lily pad path from the beach to the castle.

He turned back around to Ariadne whose eyebrows had risen. "Impressive." She said, "Almost like my first time."

"What did you do?" asked Light as they hopped along the lily pads, cutting off the pads behind them as they went.

"I made the city of Paris bend backwards on itself and defy the laws of gravity." said Ariadne, with a grin. Light stopped suddenly and gaped at her. Suddenly, his feats seemed a little less impressive.

"I think there was a mirror paradox there too, where I changed the layout of the city, but I can't really remember. This was almost two years ago now." Ariadne said, as they landed on the island.

Light shook his head, still feeling a little incredulous. He was going to top that. "Take a deep breath. You're about to get drenched."

Ariadne threw him a look of deep worry, but Light merely smiled and started turning the island upside down and submerging them under the blood-red water. Ariadne looked terrified and clung very tight to a nearby tree, her mouth inflated to an almost comical size, but Light merely grinned as he imagined two scuba masks and passed one onto Ariadne. She attached it over her mouth and breathed easily. Light grinned and beckoned her downwards.

She looked somewhat apprehensive but followed him downwards nonetheless, swimming strongly downwards, as the water's clarity got smaller and smaller. Light sends her the OK sign and she replies, then shrugs her shoulders. He knows that she's wondering about what he's doing, but Light's waiting-

Yes. Yes, he was waiting for that to start glowing. Ariadne stares at the large underwater city he's created. It's glittered and shining with hidden depths. It looks like a miniature version of Tokyo, complete with little crabs and fish as the people going about their daily business. It's created almost entirely out of jewels and rocks and coral. He's never been happier with his handiwork than when he stares at Ariadne's bulging eyes.

Suddenly though, the fish seems to flee. Ariadne and Light both turned to look at each other before a shadow loomed over his shoulder. Light didn't turn around to look he really didn't need to—

(X)

They both come out of the dream panting and gasping. Light pulls out the needle as he waits for his heart rate to calm down. Being eaten by some unknown entity was more terrifying than Light had expected. L looks somewhat surprised by Light's reaction to the dream.

"Is Light-kun feeling well?" he asks, mildly, taking a sip from his coffee. Light merely glares in response and leans back into the chair. Ariadne has walked out of the room, presumably to catch her breath out of the way of Light.

"Your first dream did not go too well?" he asks again, not sounding particularly concerned.

"It was fine, until we were eaten by a giant unknown aquatic entity." Light says, as calmly as he can. "Any new leads while we were out?"

"Nothing. Arthur has headed home for the night. I do believe Eames is continuing surveillance." L says, as he slurps and finishes his coffee.

"Right." Light says, shakily, as he runs a hand through his hair. The room feels confining; lacking in the sheer potential that Light had felt there in the dream world. He stares at the PASIV, he wants to head back into the dream, even if it means another dea—

"The PASIV is addictive." L says, almost sternly and Light turns around.

"Hmm?"

"It's addictive. The dream world. Arthur informed me that there are dream dens all over the world, filled with people willing to pay to sleep and create forever. Like opium dens but worse. Eventually, the person who uses the PASIV long enough is unable to dream properly in normal life and hallucinates often." L narrates, a bland tone to his voice.

"Hallucinates? How have Arthur and Eames escaped that fate?" Light asks, as he shuts the metal container with a soft thud. It would have been nice to know all of that before his first dreaming experience. Somehow the feeling of being withheld from crucial information feels achingly familiar, as so much else seems to about his current situation. But Light can't fight the fog that clouds his mind when he tries to remember specific memories and has resigned himself to being unable to solve the mystery of the missing memories.

"There are items called totems that ground you in reality." Ariadne says, as she comes back into the room, looking somewhat tired. "They're unique to your person and only you can ever touch it. It has something distinctive property about it that will change in a dream. A man I knew, called Cobb had a spinning top for a totem. In a dream, it will never stop spinning."

"Do you need a totem to dream, Ariadne?" asked Light.

"It's a fairly recent thing, but I'd say, if you plan on being embroiled in the world of dream espionage, it's pretty useful." She says, seriously. He sees her hand go to her necklace, where a bishop charm is hanging on the end of her necklace. Her totem? Most likely.

"Ariadne," L said, "I would appreciate it if you would take the PASIV with you when you retire. Just in case."

Light shot L a look. "I'm handcuffed to you. There's not really much I can do without you knowing about it."

"It's not for you." L says calmly as Ariadne waves a goodnight to the two of them and walks out.

(X)

It's 3am and L's computer is still on and Light can't sleep. The dream is too vivid in his mind and this whole thing to catch Kira is playing around his brain. He's tried stating all of Newton's Laws of Motion and the Laws of Thermodynamics. He's worked his way down the periodic table, listing atomic number, atomic weight and what other elements it reacts with, but that hasn't done anything, despite being one of the most effective sleep enablers of his junior high years.

"L, what was your first shared dream like?" Light asks.

L stops typing and looks at Light. "And why is Light-kun interested?"

"Because I'm attempting to gather information. In my first dream, I screwed with the laws of reality and of human limits. In Ariadne's first dream, she turned Paris on top of its head. I was curious about your own." Light explains, a little sleepily.

L is silent for a moment and Light turns over; if he doesn't want to answer, it's fine but slightly ann—

"I solved a crime. I was being 'tortured' by Watari and I still managed to solve a crime." L says. There's not a tinge of emotion in his voice, he's just stating the facts. "It was what it was used for in the military; to train soldiers with real guns and real situations they'd face without any adverse consequences. They forgot however that the mind is fragile. They died so many times in the dream and felt nothing, so they started taking unnecessary risks with their own lives on the battlefield, because their mind supplied them with evidence that the guns were harmless. They finally re-evaluated its use after 40 soldiers died on a mission after the team leader was unable to realize that they were in reality and not a dream."

Light winces a little. "Torture?" he asks.

L doesn't answer. And Light's fine with that, now. He needs that tempering, to understand that this whole new world of creation and possibility had its downsides. Hallucinations, instability, suicidal tendencies, desensitization and addiction? Light wasn't sure he wanted to risk that.

(X)

"So, the first level is the Yotsuba building?" asked Light, as he examined the complex 3D models that scattered the tables inside the main observation room. "With some extra modifications?"

"That's right," Arthur said, from where he was tapping away at his laptop. "Currently, Eames has been monitoring surveillance of Namikawa, who he will be impersonating in the first level. We think that information of his secret may be hidden inside the Yotsuba building where they hold their meeting, we can't know for sure. That's why we have the second level. That will be at Higuchi's house celebrating his birthday, which has already passed. We will be attempting to recreate the argument that Higuchi and his father had at the party about the company and hopefully, while disguising as guests, I will be able to sneak into the saferoom without any detection."

Right," Ariadne said, as she cut more card to create little images of the five dreamers, "The first level is more complex than the second, in the floor design in any case. The sheer amount of high-level security at Higuchi's house will be a problem to override, so Eames, you'll have to stall Higuchi as much as possible."

"I know," Eames said, sipping a glass of wine, from where he was currently imitating Namikawa's mannerisms and voice almost perfectly. "But what worries me if Arthur can't get through the security system or does it in a manner that is too obtrusive to the projections. Higuchi will be onto us immediately."

"I'm not an amateur, Eames. I broke into a realistic simulation of Fort Knox along with Cobb, trust me on this being the least of my worries." Arthur said, stretching his arm around Ariadne, who smiled a little. It was soon fairly obvious that the two were in a subtle relationship.

"Yeah. With Cobb." says Eames, dropping the act. "Cobb was brilliant, a natural with people, and with the dreams, you know that, Arthur. Every damn situation fell into his lap, and he got to pick and choose. The first bit of bad luck was him getting trapped in Limbo with his wife, and you know it, Arthur. That happened almost ten years after he got into dreaming. He never failed before that."

"And after that, it was nothing but failure until Inception. Think about it for a minute Eames. Do you want to succeed or not?" Arthur says coldly, as he stands up and walks out.

Light rolls his eyes and exchanges a wry look with L. He didn't think he'd be sympathizing with L, of all people, being the antisocial person that he was, but the drama and the constant sniping between Eames and Arthur was getting to him. At least he and L got out their physical tension with fighting or intense philosophical debates, rather than at a constant rate that never stopped.

"Look, what about L and I? We'll need to come with you, Arthur. What do we need to do?" asked Light, out of a need to divert their attention from their petty fight, rather than actual information.

"Stick close with me, shoot any projections if they get too aggressive, but generally try and stay out of attention's way." Arthur said, "Do you have any experience with a gun?"

Light gave him a gimlet stare, that clearly implied that Arthur was an idiot. "I'm seventeen years old in a country where civilian gun use in banned. No Arthur, I'm a _veritable_ expert with guns!"

Eames snorted and Arthur rolled his eyes. L looked amused. "That was a little harsh, Yagami-kun." He said, crunching down on a thin chocolate wafer.

"Perhaps, but it was a rather stupid question, even if you disregard my nationality. Surely you don't expect American teens to have experiences with guns, Arthur?" Light asked.

Eames shuddered. "Gods, that would be a nightmare."

Arthur sighed. "Dream time. Come on, leaving you with next to no experience with guns is a bad idea."

"Matsuda, go with them." L said.

Matsuda looked shocked. 'Me?" he asked, looked slightly nervous.

"You are the person with the highest gun accuracy scores for Japan's NPA." L said and Light felt his eyebrows raise. This, he hadn't known.

"Umm, okay Ryuuzaki." He said, scratching the side of his head. "Whatever you say."

Arthur sighed. "Come on, hook up to the PASIV. Ariadne, can you just check with Namikawa while we're in, about when Eames is going to meet with him in person?"

"Sure Arthur." She said, not looking up from her model. 'I'll be adding a few paradoxes into the floor plan of the Yotsuba building actually, now you mention how dangerous it'll be." She said, not looking up.

"So, do you actually even know what a gun looks like, kid?' asked Eames conversationally and Light threw him another cold glare.

"Sorry Ryuuzaki." he said, and quickly disarmed Eames of his gun, clicked the safety off and pointed it in his face. A trick that his father had taught him and Sayu a long time ago. Light was surprised that he still remembered how to do it. The side-effect had been that L had been dragged out of his chair and was now sitting on the floor looking rather surprised, the same expression that Eames had.

Arthur laughed. "I think I won't have much to teach you Light. You did a good number on Eames."

Eames looked calmer now, though still a little shell-shocked. "Didn't expect that from you kid. That was impressive." Light pushed the safety back on and threw it back to Eames.

"I am the son of a police officer. Don't patronize me, please." Light said coldly before going to attach himself to the PASIV.

**AN: Part 1. I usually finish both parts and post them together, but I am very stuck as far as writing this actual dream sequence will happen. Considering I have other stories that also wish to see the light, I'm going to focus on them and just post part 1 of the Inception Crossover and hope that part 2 will actually get written.**


	11. Cogs and Bolts

**Cogs and Bolts**

**Summary: In the end, they are both playing games that are too large to comprehend and no matter how much they try to justify that they work together to serve justice, they are just cogs and bolts in a larger mechanism that has no end and no purpose. Watari and L contemplative fic, looking into Wammy's rather fragile mindset. **

It is raining again, Quillsh notices, with stark annoyance. He was always taught as a child that rain was cleansing and prosperous, and he himself, when he finds a bit of spare time, has always enjoyed a walk in the gentle rain. It is why he spends most of his time in England, rather than in any of the other countless countries he could be in. But today, Quillsh knows, it the start of the Wammy's House orphanage in England, and rain is not an auspicious start.

It is not the first orphanage that Quillsh has set up or managed in his life, but it is certainly the first one with the purpose of raising a generation of genii behind it. Quillsh throws his gaze backwards, where his young charge sleeps. It is a rare enough thing that Quillsh will not disturb it. The boy is nine years old and already indispensable as a force of justice in the world.

L.

Quillsh almost laughs, but doesn't. He wonders what the police forces of the world would think about themselves if they knew that they placed all of their hopes on a boy of nine years old? Yet…it is a sobering thought and one that is slightly cold. It is truly an empty world if even children must be called to war.

But, this is hardly this is hardly the first time in Quilsh's life that children have been called to war, and on all occasions, like L, they always rise to the challenge and they always do it willingly. He had done it willingly, oh so long ago as the bombs fell down around London. Quillsh will not call L naïve, for the boy that gazed out of the world with dark, cynical eyes, who saw the scourge of humanity, day in and day out without fail was hardly naïve, but he is young and he knows nothing but this life. He doesn't know what he has given up.

And isn't that why this particular orphanage is Winchester is being opened? To make sure that one day, a much older and wearier L will be able to pass on his title to another so that he can go live his life normally and that the world will not fall into collapse without him?

Quillsh sees the boy turn restlessly in his sleep, his closed eyelids twitching with the unseen dream behind it. The boy is as much of a mystery to Quillsh as he is to the rest of the world. Quillsh met the boy when he was eight and L had just helped him stop World War III and the Mad Winchester Bombings, but L had told Quillsh that he had been shifting from orphanage to orphanage for two years.

Quillsh doesn't know what happened in L's past to leave him an orphan, but L refuses to talk about it, deflecting the topic elsewhere most of the time, or flat out ignoring Quillsh's requests for L to talk about it. All Quillsh knows is that it leaves L with a crippling sense of guilt and duty to continue being this detective to serve the world. To atone for something that Quillsh cannot see.

The topic makes Quillsh's hands twitch and he reaches for his watch. He's modded his watch so many times, he can't even remember how many different purposes it now serves, but it's perhaps the biggest stress reliever for Quillsh, one of the most successful inventors in the world.

He sees gaps in the world and makes sure that gap is plugged. Is that not why he moulded L into what he was? He saw a hole, an absence of justice and he'd filled it with L. Now he was trying to manufacture more goods to continue to fill that hole after the prototype became outdated.

It's a cold way to think of the young child that has made his way into Quillsh's heart, in a way that no other person has ever been able to, but emotions are not supposed to get involved with experiments, and was that not what L was, an experiment? An experiment that had appealed to the heart of his creator and was now lodged there for all eternity.

Watari laughs lowly. He is perhaps an abominable human being, but he is the world's hard worker, the one who dealt with the dirty secrets of the world when they didn't know how to deal with it. He scavenged on the floor, he served and he lied and he betrayed. Quillsh Wammy wasn't even sure if he counted as human anymore. Watari was a servant, an automaton, nothing more. A servant for the child of justice.

It was all he deserved. He'd killed so many in the name of queen and country (though it had been king when he'd first started his long hard toil, back when he was not much older than the boy who lay sleeping in front of him). Quillsh Wammy was no stranger to hard work and no stranger to dirty deeds. If a boy of nine must be put to work in solving the world's sordid affairs, so be it.

If L lost his humanity along the way…well, Watari would take that responsibility solely upon his shoulders. If L became as flat as the letter on the screen, Watari would take full responsibility for that (and if Quillsh Wammy protested, he was cruelly strangled in the back of Watari's mind.)

Watari is drawn sharply out of his thoughts by the sounds of rustling as his young charge wakes. He glances down at his watch, which is still working despite half of its insides being gutted. 5 hours and 26 minutes, a new record indeed.

"Is the young master wanting anything?" asked Watari (for Quillsh Wammy only exists in the early hours and late afternoons when he is alone and allowed to indulge on pointless musings).

"Some coffee, if you don't mind, Watari." said L sleepily, in Russian, the language that he had been speaking before he had dozed off.

Watari has long since trained himself to not protest that coffee is not really suitable for a young boy, as it is bad for the body. L is not a boy; L is a machine, as is Watari. Instead, he goes to his little coffee machine at the side of the room and starts the process of grounding the coffee beans, which fills the room with the aroma of rich Arabica.

"Today, the orphanage accepts its first student, does it not?" asked L, this time in English.

"Yes, and the newest arrival, Jennifer Trevarthen, from Scotland will be arriving this afternoon." Watari says, as he pours the steaming water into the mug, ¾ full exactly.

There is a black, stained rim around the mug now, from so many of the exact same amount coffee being made, that Watari no longer has to check. The sugar and milk are poured in next and given a quick firm stir, before being served to the boy, who has now crawled over the computer desk where he searches the internet, his lithe bony fingers dancing along the keyboard.

He accepts with a fleeting smile and his deep, unnerving gaze is focused once more on the screen.

"The American Government wish to lease your services again." Watari says, keeping his voice jovial but revealing nothing other than a faint humour. "I believe they've misplaced some rather valuable data and are willing to pay a rather hefty sum to get it back with full haste."

L looks up and presses one of his fingers to his lips in consideration. "How careless of them," he says lightly, a slight disdain in his voice, "Was it in a manual format, or something rather more easy to trace?"

"Manual. If it were electronic or software, I am sure that they would have put the NSA on the case or the FBI. America has plenty of hackers and trackers at their disposal and they are rather protective of their money, I have found." Watari says, a smile quirking at his lips.

L nods. "I shall be right onto it, Watari. I assume that you would have me greet the child when she arrives?"

Watari's only response was a slight tilt of the head, stifling the remark that she is only two years younger than he is. That would be a lie, for L doesn't have an age, not while he still serves his purpose. L is ageless, faceless and lacks desire. L is justice, a letter on a screen, and letters don't have human characteristics.

L nods. "I thought so. In that case, do tell me when she arrives? I have no desire to waste time waiting for her if I could be closing this tedious case."

Watari only nods and smiles as he leaves the room. He knows that L will take this case seriously, as he does with all of his cases, but he will treat it with disdain.

It's perhaps a flaw that Watari will have to remove from the next generation, but L tends to have a habit of admiring those he ought to be fighting against, especially when they have an intellectual mind. He hates them all the more, but he speaks of most those who pose a challenge, with a caress in the boy's tone, that if he were but a bit older, Watari would compare to a lover's caress.

Watari glances around the orphanage. Spotless. Good. It is a pet peeve of Wammy's, but he can't stand rooms that are in disarray or are unclean. He isn't quite sure where it came from, but if Watari had to hazard a guess, he would say it came from the labs and bomb munitions factories where being spotless was the key to not getting blown up.

He glances out of the large bay windows. The rain has not ceased. If anything, it has increased. That could pose a problem for the traffic on the M1. Watari reaches for the rotary dial phone and composes the number of the driver that will be escorting Jennifer to Winchester.

"Mr. Wammy?" came the curt voice of Samuel Tennyson, a bitter man, who had worked too many administrative years as an underappreciated civil servant, before Quillsh had seen his talent for organization and hired Samuel to work for him.

"How is the traffic looking, Samuel?" he asked, his voice as comforting as he can make it.

"Bad, Mr Wammy. Looking at about a 2 hour delay. She won't arrive till the evening. She has a couple of books, but I'm afraid she's been complaining of being bored." said Samuel, sounding apologetic, reacting immediately to Watari's soothing tones, as most people tended to do.

"Well, I would ask that you hand the phone to Miss Jennifer, if you can." Watari said, as he made his way down the stairs.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice sounding slightly lost.

"Hello, Miss Jennifer?" Wammy said, and she gave an affirmative hum. "I've been told that you're rather bored, so I'll leave you with a little riddle. A professor thought of two consecutive numbers between one and ten. Person A knows one number and Person B knows the other. Person A says that she doesn't know B's number. B says that he also doesn't know. Suddenly, A says that she does know. What are the possibilities of numbers and how did A figure out what B's number was?"

The girl had taken a deep intake of breath. "Umm, sir, I don't know."

"You don't know now, but I am told that you have a long wait ahead of you. This may help a little in easing the boredom." Wammy said, and she was silent. Wammy merely smiled and placed the receiver down.

"Mr Wammy!" came the dulcet tones of the Norwegian steward that Watari had picked for the orphanage. Magda, the brusque yet kind lady that Wammy had met Sweden and rescued from a rather stick predicament about embezzling the prime minister or Sweden. Someone so efficient and so observant would be a waste rotting away in prison, after all.

If Watari hadn't been an automaton, he thinks that their story might have played out like some sort of fairytale where the maiden falls for the rescuer. But this was real life, and they'd met when they were forty, which was never romantic, and he'd had a job, a purpose in life which she'd have only served as a distraction and a liability (and if Quillsh Wammy protests that love can be found anywhere, he is ignored). She was now a tool at this orphanage. It would be good for her and for poor, broken Jennifer, who would be remade in the image of justice itself.

"Yes, Magda?" he asks, letting the warm, grandfatherly smile settle on his face.

"We are missing a few towels and sheets that will be necessary to host some of the teachers. May I take the permission to take one of the cars out to Winchester and purchase some?" she said, her voice slightly weary.

"You needn't ask me permission for that. You are in charge of the house's daily business. I am merely a visitor." Watari said, smiling, "Of course, you may."

She smiled tiredly and swept away, down the stairs. Watari follows her at a more sedate pace, and picks up the newspapers that lie across the front desk. The headlines read the same old news, nothing that would interest L too much, but Watari walks back up the stairs to bring them to L anyway, along with the hot sizzling pancakes covered in chocolate syrup and maple syrup, courtesy of the many chefs that Wammy has hired.

He is struck by how silent the whole place is. Wammy remembers the other orphanages in Delhi, Manaus, Lyon, Glasgow, Cape Town and Bangkok, and he remembers that there was always noise, no matter what time of day. Children were rarely quiet. He pities Jennifer all the more and vows to find another that matches the calibre of knowledge required to be L, faster.

He pauses outside of the door. He has indulged in the thoughts of Wammy at an incorrect time, and he schools his face and mind back to playing the role of Watari with some difficulty. He pushes the door open once his face is schooled into a polite smile.

"Breakfast, master L. And some newspapers." Watari says, clearing the desk of the loose papers that have managed to accumulate there in a fifteen minute time-span.

"Thank you again, Watari. Take a look at this footage. Is it just me, or has the American agent here, deliberately handed over the data to someone who isn't an agent?" asked L, looking somewhat amused.

Watari glances at the screen. Already, he has managed to hack into the CIA's camera feeds. Fifteen minutes. The efficiency rate of L is improving. Or, this case is simply so dull that L is speeding through it. "Yes, I believe that is the case. Corruption, I presume?"

L nods, and assimilates Watari's opinion into his deductions, before tugging his arms around his knees. Watari usually leaves him alone when he gets pensive, so Watari makes to leave.

"No wait, Watari. I meant to ask you something." He says, his face contorting a little. Watari nods and L looks less like a machine in that moment, less like the letter on the screen. The boy, L Lawliet sits before him, uncertainty and worry etched over his facial features, in a way that Wammy or Watari has never seen before. "This girl… do you really think she'll be able to replace me?"

Quillsh Wammy knows that the answer is no. No one will be able to replace the unique identity that is this small boy, and that she and the others will try, and they will eventually fail, because no one could replicate his exact mental thought processes. They would succeed his letter and they would maintain his reputation, but they would never replace him.

However, this is Watari's time. Wammy's times are the pensive moments alone or the quiet indecisive moments before something terrible occurs. And Watari knows that L is a prototype, L is a machine and that all machines are replaceable—

"Yes. I believe that she will uphold your reputation and serve for justice."

In the end, he chooses a mix of both messages. A mix of both truths, that somehow seems more hollow than either of the simple statements. But, isn't that what he is, what L is? A strange, hollow version of two truths meshing together in a manner that doesn't quite fit?

L nods. His face is nigh unreadable, but his jaw is set in a firmer manner and he seems somewhat resigned. "I see. Thank you for your insight, Watari. Shut the door on your way out, please." The uncertainty is gone, replaced a smooth, inscrutable mask of serenity.

Watari follows instructions and walks out, a nod to his master as he leaves, ignoring the wrench in his heart from Quillsh Wammy. L can and will be replaced. If not by Jennifer, by someone else. Watari also knows that his role will be taken by another. He is not worried, not truly.

In the end, they are both playing games that are too large to comprehend and no matter how much they try to justify that they work together to serve justice, they are just cogs and bolts in a larger mechanism that has no end and no purpose. The legacy of L will live on, perfected with every coming generation until the idea of there being flaws at all will have been forgotten. (And if Quillsh Wammy protests that sometimes flaws are required, Watari will sharply push him away, as is the norm)


	12. Broken Facades

**Broken Facades**

**Summary: A model's facade is strong indeed, to hide her despair, but Light can see beyond it. He's the only one who can help her, really. Still, it doesn't mean he has to enjoy it as much as he is now...right? Misa meets Light before the Death Note falls and time is changed forever. **

**Happy Birthday, Misa! Here's your story! And merry Christmas to everyone reading this!**

Light Yagami was 16 as he walked through the streets of Tokyo. The lights of the city were especially bright that evening, on the night of the new moon. He'd never felt so bored before, but something about the whole situation, indicated that his life was lethargic. He was the ever obedient, perfect, dedicated junior at Daikoku High School and generally had a perfect, boring life. He was leaden and he felt that his wit was slowly being eroded, like the pestle against the mortar, being ground away by mindless, countless repetition.

Light sighed, and pulled at his hair, a lazily affected expression on his face. He wondered whether Yamamoto would have anything interesting prepared for the N—

Oof! Light fell backward with a thud across the pavement. His back impacted heavily against the cold hard concrete, but his head luckily escaped any ulterior damage. Light blinked a little, as the pain wracked his body and stared at what had pushed him to the floor. It was what seemed to be a young girl with blonde hair and a pretty red dress who was sobbing her little heart out. Apologizing profusely with a shaky tone, she started running away again, through the streets of Tokyo.

Light was torn. On one hand, she had just thrown him to the ground and he hurt all over from the impact of hitting the floor. On the other hand, his father had always taught him to be a gentlemen - and she was very obviously in distress. Light swore to the side and sprinted after her.

He'd quit tennis three years ago, but he still kept relatively fit. Not to the extent that Sayu did, being the sports star of her school, but definitely decent enough to catch up to the blonde girl without any adverse effects on his health.

"Hey wait, Miss! Are you okay?" Light said, catching her shoulders and turning her around. She squealed and everyone turned around to look. Light quickly led her across the road to the park, smiling placidly as he did so.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice high-pitched and terrified, her body stiff in Light's hands.

"I'm making sure that you don't get run over in your distress. Running around without looking where you're going in rush hour is a certain suicide." Light said calmly, "My name is Yagami Light. You?"

"Amane Misa." She says, her face screwing up into anger. "And how do you know that I don't want to die?"

Light sits her down on a bench. "If you really wanted to die, you would have picked a more deliberate way to do it. And in either case, I won't let you commit suicide. You're obviously in sorrow and can't think straight."

She snarled angrily, her eyes burning with passionate anger. "Don't you talk to me with that much condescension! I'm not a child! And how would you know what it feels like when there is nothing left to live for?"

"I don't know what your grief is like." Light said simply, "But there is always something worth living for. Always. You simply have to find it. And in any case, I do believe that you have a life to live. A pretty young girl like you shouldn't be wasting her chances because she is aggrieved."

Her body slumped downward in the bench and the passion and anger in her body language disappeared. "How is my life worth living without a family?" she whispered, looking like her tears were about to start again.

"Tell me what happened." Light said and she burst into tears again. He pulled the girl into a hug, knowing that people needed comfort. Her family dead? How awful. He wasn't sure what life would be without his parents and his annoying little sister around.

"Shh, shh. I know, it's a dreadful thing, but you should tell someone. Keeping it all inside of you will only hurt you." Light said, making his voice as reassuring as possible.

Amane-san took in a deep, shuddery breath. "I can't do. The police people wanted me to give an eyewitness statement. I can't do it! I don't want to relive their death!"

Light sighed. "You ran away from the police." He stated simply. "Now they'll be thinking that you had something to do with the death, Amane-san. I should probably get you back to the headquarters."

She sniffed and shook her head firmly. "I'm not going back there!" she shouted and Light gave her a firm stare.

"Do you want your parents' murderer to come to justice?" Light asked and she nodded, furiously, tears leaking from her eyes. He wondered how much girls could cry. Didn't they dehydrate at some point? "Then you need to go back to headquarters so they know who to investigate and arrest for the murders. If you don't give them an account of what happened, then they'll never know who killed them."

The girl's head dipped and she sobbed a little. "Why...why did he have to pick my house?" she whispered. "I was happy before this. I'm a model, you see. I was…I was going to London in two weeks. For the fashion week. Yoshida says that I'm their most popular fashion icon. My mummy was going to come with me. Why...why did he have to kill them?"

"Tell me what happened." Light encouraged. "Think of it as practice. And even if you can't tell the police, I can tell them for you."

She took a deep breath. "It was 7:30pm. We were watching TV. Mummy was sitting near the door and Daddy was cutting vegetables in the kitchen. I was in the living room, typing on my computer. Mummy got up to grab her sketchbook, she was an artist, you see. Then, I heard a scream. Daddy came running out of the kitchen and I followed him. We walked into the room, and there was this man with Mum's laptop and a bunch of jewellery. Dad…Dad was still holding the kitchen knife and Mum was screaming from the shock of seeing him. Dad jumped after him and the guy tried to run away, with the stuff he'd taken. I dunno what quite happened, I think that Dad was trying to get the laptop back and he dropped the knife. Then the other picked it up and stabbed him! He stabbed my daddy! How he could do that?"

She started sobbing again and Light had to physically bite his lip and feel the blood trickle down his lip to stop himself from shouting at her. Seriously, did she never stop crying?

"Please Amane-san, keep going." Light said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She started and looked at him nervously, licking her lips for a moment before nodding.

"There was…there was so much blood. It was…was not nice. Mummy started crying and she went to Daddy. I… I was frozen. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. The guy almost got away, but Mummy howled like this wolf and jumped after him. But, he still had the knife. And then, she…she…" Here Misa keened a little as she leant her head backwards. "Mummy died too. That son-of-a-bitch got away, but he didn't take anything but that kitchen knife. Why…why couldn't he have just taken his things and gone? Why did he have to take their lives too?" she screamed the question at Light, shaking his jacket.

Light mused that if he weren't a gentleman, he probably would have slapped her for manhandling him and generally breaking the unspoken rules of Japanese politeness. But it was plain to see that she wasn't in her right mind.

"Look Amane-san. We can't predict the future, nor can we change the past. All we can do is remain the in the present and keep striving to live longer and better. Would your parents have wanted you to wallow and despair? No, not if they're anything like mine. They'll have wanted you to keep living and keeping on being who you are. What happened to your parents was a tragedy and a devastating loss. But, you can't let it break you, Amane-san. You have a beautiful life ahead of you and a career as well. Wouldn't your parents want you to thrive instead of languish in despair?" Light finished his speech and the girl had stopped crying. She was merely smiling a little, looking far away.

A wistful look entered her eyes. "You have a beautiful way of speaking, Yagami-san. You would go far in show business or politics." She said, standing up, gracefully, her long blonde hair falling into her swollen red eyes.

"I don't think so. That would be walking into a den of vipers and giving up my soul to let it happen." Light said darkly, and she laughed a little bitterly as they started walking towards the police station.

"Yes, it is rather like signing away your freedom, isn't it? I won't even get a break, I bet you. Tomorrow, I will still have to go into work and switch my schedule so that I can stay in Japan for now and pose for the camera. And I will have lost a career advancement opportunity that would have taken me far." She says, her voice tinged with regret and a bitter disappointment.

"You are a braver woman than I will ever be if you can even stand to stand on the precipice of that pit." Light told her and she giggled a little.

"Thank you Yagami-san, but that was all down to my elder sister. She was always the organized one." She confided and Light smiled.

"It's always the elder ones, isn't it? My younger sister Sayu is perhaps the most chaotic and disorganized person you will ever meet."

"A definite contrast to you, Yagami-san." She teased, a choking laugh in her voice. He can see that the sadness is barely kept back and the smile on her face is forced, brittle and plastic, but Light pretended that she was normal. It's the only way she'll be able to get over her sadness. She was a very good actress. She'd thrive in showbiz.

Light paused as they reached the Police Department. "This is where we must part. Do you need me to come with you, or can you relate your story to the police officers without any help?"

Misa smiled, and it seemed genuine. "No, I can take it from here. Thank you, Yagami-san. Your assistance was much appreciated. You didn't have to do anything, yet you still helped me. I am in your debt."

Light shook his head. "It was nothing, Amane-san. I wish you well."

And with that, Light turned on his heel and walked home.

(X)

"Hey, Nii-chan!" Sayu said, as Light was about to shut himself inside his room. He shook off his wet hands from the bathroom and smiled at her.

"Hi Sayu. Aren't you heading to bed, now?" he asked and Sayu pulled a face.

"Yeah, but Dad's back and he wanted a word with everybody. He says there's something that he wants to tell us." She said, tilting her head sideways in the adorable yet annoying 'little sister' face.

"Fine, fine," Light said, looking amused. "I wonder what he wants to say."

Sayu shrugged as she thundered down the stairs in her pyjamas. Light followed suite, an amused smirk on his face, as he entered the kitchen. There, he stopped still.

"Amane-san!" he exclaimed, at seeing the familiar blonde haired girl standing in the kitchen chatting with his mother shyly, clutching a large purple tote bag and red suitcase.

"Yagami-san!" she said, looking a mix between horrified and surprised.

His family stared at the two of them, looking rather confused. "Have you two met before, Light?" asked his father, a bemused expression on his face.

Misa nodded, not looking at up at Light. "Yagami-kun was the one who brought me back to the police station after I …ran away. He persuaded me that it was for the best to tell the police as much as I could."

Light nodded in agreement and his father looked very proud as the confirmation was made. It made Light just a little happier.

"Well, that's very useful. Amane-chan will be staying with us for a month or so. The man she identified as the thief that robbed her house is a dangerous man and we believe he may try to attack her house again. I said that she would be able to stay with us. I hope that you will welcome her into the family." His Father explained.

Sayu grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "We'd be glad to have you here, Amane-san! Will you be rooming with me? I think you rooming with Light would be awkward!"

Light pressed a couple of fingers to his forehead, in an attempt to suppress laughter and annoyance. Misa didn't bother and giggled easily. Her laughter sounded genuine and rather like bells. "I think with that lovely reason, I will be rooming with you…Sayu, right?"

Sayu grinned and grabbed Misa's arm and towed her away, back up the stairs. Once she was gone, Light let his face fall back to grave apathy. "This will be difficult to deal with." He said to his mother.

His father frowned. "I didn't think you would be so unwelcoming, Light." He sounded stern and disapproving.

"No Dad, I mean in that she's got serious traumatic issues. She saw their deaths in front of her and she was in full out hysterics when I met her. It's her likely that her nightmares may be disruptive and loud. She also may suffer symptoms of PTSD or other nervous disorder symptoms. We'll have to be extra gentle and extra careful around her. She's like a ticking time bomb currently, and the only reason she isn't a blithering mess is because she's a very strong actress and I pushed at her pride to make her stand up and function properly again." Light explained seriously and his mother gasped.

"The poor thing." She said, her voice in shock.

"Light." His father said sternly, "If you feel that she will be this broken, then I ask that you be there for her. She's a young woman suffering under my care and I don't want to hear of any cruelty from you. If she's in any pain, emotionally or physically, I want you to help her."

"Yes, I will. I was just warning you about what happens when you take in broken children." Light said, a little coldly, as he strode back up to his room. He really hoped that he was wrong, because the last thing he needed was more of her crying. But Light was almost never wrong, which meant that he would be stuck babysitting her.

(X)

"I can't decide whether you should live or die, oh you'll probably go to heaven, so don't hang your head and cry…" Misa's voice drifted up from the living room, where she was currently practicing for a late-night TV role. Light was reluctantly impressed, it had been three days, and she's shown none of the signs that Light had predicted.

If anything, the hectic schedule that she'd shown Light, filled with music shows, modeling and studying for her degree in music theory had probably stabled her actions, rather than set them off. Yes, that was correct, the girl was two years older than him, in her first year of college and she'd been that childish and uncontained! Light had always been mature for his age, but still! Her behavior had not been that of a woman two years older than Light. Weren't women supposed to be more mature than most men and not less?

Still, if he considers her a person two years younger than him, like the age she typically acted as, she was coping remarkably well and fit into their household snugly. Though, the random singing at all hours of the day and walking in on her in her slightly skimpy outfits was starting to grow tiresome. Boring. Normal. Predictable. If Light was honest, he sort of wanted her to breakdown. It made life more interesting than the usual routine, even if it meant that he had to do something.

Light gritted his teeth as the music got louder. He was trying to study Calculus, but it was difficult with that music going on.

"Misa?" he asked as he stepped down the stairs, and swung into the living room. She was in the middle of dancing something and Light couldn't stop the amused smile that manifested in his face as she stopped awkwardly and blushed a little.

"Yagami-kun?" she asked, looking a little embarrassed.

"Could you turn the music down a little? I've got to study for the tests coming up soon." Light asked, as polite as he could and she nodded anxiously.

"Sure thing, Yagami-kun!" she said, her face still a bright red.

"By the way, you're a great dancer, Amane-san. You just may want to pull your skirt down a little. Pink panties clash badly with a black skirt." Light said, a smirk affixed firmly on his face as he turned around to go back upstairs.

He could hear her spluttering behind him as he left and Light couldn't resist a little look behind him, just to make sure that she wasn't choking. She was frantically pulling her skirt down, her entire face and ears the shade of a red delicious apple. Light snorted and started to walk back to his room.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Misa froze. Her hands started shaking and Light felt his breath hitch. Now of all times? Right after he'd wished for it? Well now, wasn't that interesting…

"Misa. Misa. Look at me. It's not someone coming to rob us. For one, they'd come in through a window or the back door. Why would a thief ring the front door? It's much more likely to be Sayu because she's forgotten her keys again. Or Yamamoto coming to deliver my textbook back. You're safe here. That's why you're here. This house is safe and secure." Light looked her straight in the eye. She was still shaking a little, but nodded and took a deep breath in. Hah, boring. Typical.

Light answered the door. As he'd predicted, Sayu was on the doorstep, her hair tied back with her sweat band. She'd obviously gone out for a run and left her keys here. He wasn't sure whether the irrational fear of everything had come to Misa because of the experience she'd been in or whether she was usually like this.

"Hey nii-chan!" she said, grinning as she came back in. "Oh, Misa-san, you're back! Can you help me with my algebra?"

Light felt a little perplexed. "Not that I'm complaining, but isn't that usually my job?" he asked, feeling a little amused.

"Yeah, sure, but Misa explains it ten times better than you do. I mean, you obviously get the topic, but when you explain it, it never makes sense. Misa's explanations are easy to understand for a dumbo like me." Sayu explained, as she went to the kitchen to grab an orange.

Light laughed. "I guess I have to thank you then, Amane-san! I don't have to put up with Sayu's annoying questions all the time!" he said, ruffling Sayu's hair. She hit him with the hand that wasn't holding the orange and frowned. Misa laughed delightedly and Light smiled a little, before heading back to his room.

(X)

Light yawned as he exited his room. It was around seven thirty in the morning. It wasn't the usual time that he got up, especially not on a Saturday, but he was too alert to sleep properly. He didn't know why. It was grey and depressing outside his window and Light sighed as he shuffled down to the kitchen. It was probably going to rain that morning, around 9am, if the taste of humidity on his tongue was correct.

To his surprise, Misa is in the kitchen carrying a rather large stack of boxes and narrowly avoiding crashing into the fridge. Light quickly lifts about three of the top of the large pile and puts them on the table.

"New house rule, to avoid serious injury. No carrying things that are taller than you." Light said sternly, honestly feeling like he was talking to a child. Really, who was stupid enough to do something so dumb?

She laughs sheepishly, as she places the last of the boxes down on the table. "I have to go for a photo shoot down in Harajuku. I need all of this stuff. They want me in an angel costume, of all things, and they wanted me to try it all on beforehand to see if it all fits, so they can get everything shot in time. They only have a small slot of time to film." She said, as she placed her head in her hands.

"What time is the photo shoot?" asked Light, as he went to grab some coffee.

"Around 8. It goes up until nine." Misa said, looking tired. "I have to go there now to get there in time."

Light paused and sighed. He didn't particularly appreciate her company but his father had told him to protect her in no uncertain terms, and she would probably walk into a line of traffic if she went all the way to Harajuku with those boxes. "Do you think you can wait five minutes so I can finish this coffee and grab my coat?"

Misa looked surprised. "You're coming with me, Light-kun?" she said, looking very surprised.

"You'll kill yourself and some other people if you go outside the house with those boxes." Light said flatly. Gods, did he really have to spend every inch of his time walking behind her and making sure she wasn't a threat to society? But, he couldn't deny that she was certainly interesting.

She clapped her hands and hugged Light. "Thank you very much Light-kun! You're a real gentleman!"

Light patted her back awkwardly and detached himself from her embrace as the kettle finished boiling. "Go get some umbrellas from the closet; it's going to rain at around nine, so your shoot will probably be cut short."

Misa darted off and Light quickly penned out a note to his mother as he finished his coffee. Misa arrived back with a black raincoat and two umbrellas just as Light was putting his shoes on.

"Let's go!" Misa exclaims, grabbing some boxes. Light took the rest and they walked out of the door. She gabbled a little about the things she'd been doing for her degree, and Light, used to Sayu's chatter absently inserted yeses and nos and noncommittal humming, where appropriate.

Light frowned suddenly as they passed a TV blaring about some criminal. Misa glanced at it before pursing her lips tightly and looking away from the TV, her footsteps increasing in frequency. When the words Amane and murder flashed up under the man's face, Light winced and kept walking after her.

They walked in silence for a little while until they reached the subway. "The trial's being arranged for next week," she said, her voice nearly emotionless as they walked through the turnstiles. "They say that he's already got a lawyer and that he's one of the best defendant lawyers in the world. My older sister's friend, a lawyer who's representing us doesn't think she'll be able to win the case." Misa looked to her right and sniffed a little.

"He'll get convicted, you'll see. The evidence is overwhelmingly in your favour." Light said, easily.

Misa smiled sadly. "Ahh, you're still a little naïve about the way that politics work. He'll get off, because he has more money than I do and his lawyer is better than mine, and his lawyer will probably bribe off the jury. The justice system is flawed, terminally so. Those with more money, will win."

Light frowned. Being called naïve by the ditsiest girl he'd met was more than slightly wounding to his pride. "Not always." He says.

She agrees. "No, not always. But most of the time, yes, it is corrupt. Somedays, I wish that this world were not so rotten. I feel that everyone would be a lot happier then."

Light blinked a little and stared at her. She tilted her head sideways. "Are you okay, Yagami-kun?"

"…I have to wonder Amane-san, whether you have been reading my brain. It is something that I have been pondering for a long time." If he was honest, he hadn't been expecting the girl to have such a similar opinion to his, nor for her to have such knowledge of philosophical concepts. Perhaps, he had been underestimating her.

"Some criminals…some, I wish that they would just go and die." She says, her voice so vicious and spiteful, as their stop draws close, that Light can hardly believe that it is the same person speaking to him.

"Death is perhaps a little harsh…" Light said, pulling a face, "But I agree in that wish too, that they would cease their spiteful, cruel actions. However, we do live in a flawed world, where that is unlikely to happen. Everyone from our fearless leaders to the lowest people commit crimes all the time. We are near helpless to stop it."

Misa sniffed a little, as they walked out into the subway. "It's enough to make one depressed. In the books, the good guys always win, but it never happens in real life. I wish that books were more realistic. Perhaps they would stop presenting me with false hope, then."

Light doesn't know how to respond to that, so keeps quiet. They walk the streets of Harajuku in a pensive silence. They draw a few stares, but two teens with a lot of boxes are hardly the weirdest things that have been glimpsed here.

"The man who killed my parents will go free." Misa says, finally, as they near the large area where camera crews are setting up. "And there is nothing that I can do about it. Is that what you are saying, Light-kun? That we are helpless to stop our evils?"

"No, of course not. If you can appeal to the jury and get public support on your side, it's likely that he'll be convicted. I meant ridding the entire world of crime will be nearly impossible." Light argued, frowning as he placed the boxes down as they stood in the queue.

"If." She says, sniffling a little. "I don't think my sister's friend is good enough to do it. And I can't afford a better one. The state can't afford a better one either, Yagami-kun. He's going to win."

Light is about to refute her words when a stern looking woman stalks towards the two of them.

"Misa, you are late again! Quickly, get your angel costume on and go to the makeup trailer, Mayomuro's almost ready and you take much longer. Go!" When Misa looks set to protest, the woman grabs her arm and drags her away. Light is left staring after her before, he shakes himself out of it. He asks one of the runners he sees to take the boxes to Misa's trailer and goes out to wander Harajuku for a little while, until the rain starts, when he'll have to come and collect Misa and the boxes again.

(X)

Light's flicking through the TV magazine on the Friday afternoon. He has homework, but it really can be done later. Besides, Sayu has homework too, and she's happily chatting with Misa and getting her hair braided. Their conversation washes over him, because its inane chatter about celebrities and hair dye and all sorts of boring things that Light has no interest in, but it's nice to hear the tone of their voices and to know that they're both so happy.

His mother comes in with the mail stack and sorts them into three stacks on the table. The largest, Light knows, is for his father. He picks up his little stack of letters and quickly flicks through the five of them. Two are for Sayu, but three are for him. He places Sayu's letters next to her and opens his own. One is a usual junk mail from MENSA, which Light has taken to ignoring generally, another is an invitation for a foreign exchange trip to Indonesia, which Light will never be going on, and the last is a textbook catalogue. Light keeps that to the side, that will be useful for next year.

Misa finishes braiding Sayu's hair and picks up her stack. She goes for the bulkiest letter and first and stares at it, her eyes steadily widening before she gets out of the chair and squeals, loudly.

Light throws her a look of concern. "Are you alright, Amane-san?"

"Light-kun, you remember the Harajuku shoot? They thought that the photos were a hit! Every single company wants to showcase them! They say that it's a new side to Misa Amane! They tripled my salary! And they gave me a copy of everything they took!" she exclaims, looking exuberantly happy.

Sayu's eyes widened. "No way!" she said, taking Misa's letter. She scanned the latter and gasped. "My god Misa, that's almost two million yen!"

"I know!" she says, her eyes sparkling. "With this, I can afford a better lawyer! I just know it!"

"Let's see the pictures!" Sayu said, as she pulled out a few from the packet. Sayu's face was wide open in shock. "Nii-chan, look at this! Misa, you look like a proper angel!"

Light took a few photos with a little bit of curiousity. Sayu was right, with the makeup and the lighting and the soft, wistfully sad expression on her face, the angel clothing and wings really made Misa look like the Christian embodiment of God's will. Light ignored the other people that drifted in and out of the pictures.

"What do you think, Light-kun?" asked Misa, looking curious by his silence. Usually, Light commented on things as he saw them.

"Hmmm, I don't really like them." Light said quietly and Misa gasped and frowned at Light. Sayu huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Light raised his hands to placate them. "I think the photography is done very well and the all the effects as well, but Misa just doesn't look like herself. Misa always looks more beautiful and alive when she's smiling."

Sayu smiled, looking satisfied while Misa's hands went to her mouth slowly before she threw her arms around Light.

"No one's ever called me beautiful before." She whispers so that Sayu can't hear and get the wrong idea.

"Well then," he mutters back, smiling a little as he puts his arms around her. "Then they're idiots, aren't they?"

Misa laughed and pulled out of the hug, before grinning. "Well, it doesn't matter what you think Light-kun," she teased, "The fans love it! Which means I'm richer than before!"

She and Sayu got into a little happy dance jig and Light couldn't stop the laughter at how ridiculously happy they both looked.

(X)

"…but it still doesn't make sense!" Misa exclaimed, as she brandished her chopsticks at Light slightly precariously, as Light explained the reasoning behind why he believed it had worked.

Everyone in Light's class had to make a presentation on a psychological experiment that either proved a virtue of mankind or refuted. Light had of course gone for the course of action against virtues, knowing that there were a wider range of experiments he could take data from. He was currently covering the Milgram Authority experiment and Misa had walked in while he'd been neatly printing kanji for dinner time.

He'd, of course, been questioned as to what the pretty poster was for and Light, with all the patience of a teacher had explained the experiment to her. It had been an ingenious experiment, one that Light found slightly amusing personally. A question had surfaced after the World War and the Holocaust and it was thus. Why had the Nazi soldiers followed orders? A man called Stanley Milgram had set out to find out whether Germans were more susceptible to following orders or something like that. He'd planned to try it on Americans then try it on Germans but after the results of the American experiment, Stanley had been so shocked, there had been no need to test it out on the German populace.

The participants had been drafted into a teacher/ student session, with an administrator behind them, giving instructions. The teacher and subject of the experiment was 'teaching' the learner word connections and was instructed to hit them with a steadily increasing electric voltage shock every time they got a question wrong.

The learner wasn't actually getting electrocuted, they only simulated that they were in pain, but for all the subject knew, they were being hurt. The voltage went all the way up to the almost fatal 450 volts, and the predictions had been that only a very small percentage of the subjects would actually touch the button. All of the people involved in the experiment had misgivings about pressing the buttons but when prodded sharply by the examiner to keep going verbally, 68% of the subjects involved pressed the 450 volt button.

The results had been phenomenally shocking to everybody involved. A blow against human morality indeed; that a few sharp words would suffice to send people to commit atrocities. Misa had been unable to believe it, despite her bitter outlook on politicians and lawyers. Light explained that his theory was most likely that it was a remnant from back when humans were still animals and where disobeying the leader of the pack, meant that you died. Light had gone onto explain that many of the other basic survival traits like this persisted still in humans, such as the Fight or Flight instinct and the lying prerogative, yet still, Misa was unable to believe it.

"Why doesn't it make sense, Misa-san?" asked Light, as he placed some noodles in his mouth. His poster was finished now, had been an hour ago, but this argument about human kind and morality had been going on for almost two hours now. Though, Light couldn't deny that he was enjoying the mental stimulation of arguing with someone, even if she wasn't on his level.

"Well, look at it this way Light-kun, if almost 70% of the participants obeyed orders, why did events such as the French Revolution or the Meiji Revolution even happen? Nearly whole countries broke their instincts to overthrow the power!" Misa said, as she too, took another dainty bite of noodles.

'It's a good point Misa-san," Light said, and it was, if she had been arguing with people of her mental age, "But the French Revolution was only ever truly felt vigourously by a few people at the time, and only the fact that half the country was starving and dying, did the country finally rally behind them, so that they could feed themselves. And the Meiji Revolution out the power back into the imperialists, back into the Emperor's hands. Neither of those are solid examples as to why people follow orders so well."

"But there are those who don't follow orders. I mean, if everybody did, schools would be perfect. But there are always those jerks who ruin class by being idiots or not listening to the teacher at all." Misa said, frowning, her mouth in a downright pout, as she took a sip of water.

"Of course not everyone follows orders, Misa-san, only 70% of people followed orders in Milgram's experiment. That other 30% are the rule-breakers, the people who had overridden their survival instincts or buried them so deep they can't hear them anymore. Criminals have got to come from somewhere, right?" Light asked sadly, as he took another bite of noodles. His mother finally took a seat at the dinner table and called Sayu over to eat.

Sayu pouted as she took her seat next to Misa. "But muuuum, Hideki Ryuuga's programme hasn't finished yet!"

"I don't see why you're so enamoured with him." Light said, rolling his eyes. The blonde haired pop-idol just looked like an idiot, if he was honest.

"Yeah, Ryuuga's a total moron!" Misa agreed, rolling her eyes, "Not one bit of consideration for anybody other than himself."

Sayu stared at Misa. "You know Hideki Ryuuga-san?" she breathed, looking ecstatic.

"Yeah, I know him." Misa said darkly, "And trust me, he's an awful person. He may look like the prettiest person on earth, but all he can be is a selfish scoundrel." At this, she stabbed a cauliflower section with a dark vehemence. Light was glad that it wasn't him on the receiving end of that. "All he can do is love himself and insult everybody who isn't up to his calibre. Light, if the people on the experiment were like Ryuuga, no wonder they got the results that they did."

Sayu groaned. "You're still talking about that?"

"Still talking about what?" came a deep voice and Sayu grinned. "Daddy!" she said, throwing her arms around him, as he came through the door.

"Hello Sayu." He said, as he ruffled her hair. "What have you been continuing to talk about then, son?"

"A school project that I'm currently undertaking. It's based on the Milgram Authority Experiment. Misa-san was using Hideki Ryuuga as a reason for why the results were so shocking." Light said, letting his lips twitch at the side of his mouth. "We've been debating about it for a while. I guess even Sayu gets tired of not understanding stuff after a while. I don't know how you cope at school through six hours of not knowing anything, though."

Sayu's face grew red and she hit him very hard on the arm. Misa giggled a little and Light's father shook his head, looking only slightly amused. Light's mother came out of the kitchen with his father's meal and they all sat down to eat again.

"How is the current case going Dad? You haven't been home in time for dinner for a while now." Light said, as he started to drink from his bowl.

"It's dragging along. I'm afraid I can't say anymore, but it's a bitter struggle with the Korean authorities, I'm afraid." He said, sounding tired, as he started to eat. "How's life in general?"

Sayu still seemed to be fuming at Light's comment, so Misa stepped in. "My shoots are going better than ever, after the Harajuku pictures, everybody wants a bit of Misa Amane. It's a little overwhelming if I'm honest. Today, after class, the lecturer asked for my signature before I left! I had to decline, because if I gave her one, the whole campus would want one!" She relates and Light's mother laughs and his father smiles a little.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you Oji-san," she says, looking hesitant. "The company want me to move into an apartment closer to the studio so that I can get to work a lot quicker than I can nowadays. I was wondering how I'd get into contact with my parent's bank account manager. I haven't the first clue as to where to start trying to apply for a loan or even try to deposit money into my parents' accounts."

Sayu dropped her chopsticks. "You want to leave, Misa-san?" she asked, looking devastated.

Misa smiled sadly. "I can't stay here forever. I'm invading on your hospitality, Oba-san, and I would be a terrible guest if I stayed too long. The danger is mostly gone anyway. And I am feeling much better than I did previously."

Sayu looked very sad and sniffed a little. Light sighed and took pity on her. "Sayu, she isn't leaving forever. I have no doubt that Misa-san will come back here and have dinner with us every now and then. This simply means that she can get her own room and own space. Most college students have their own apartments anyway, and you're pretty rich anyway. Have decided on a particular district yet?"

"Not yet." Misa said, seizing upon Light's discussion with gratitude. "I was looking around the Sendegaya region or maybe near Shinsen?"

"Shinsen is really expensive for the quality of accommodation they offer. And it doesn't have the best reputation as far as nightlife goes." Light's mother said, frowning.

"Why not near Aoyama? Don't a lot of the Yoshida models usually stay there?" asked Light, leaning forward.

"And how do you know that, Light?" asked Sayu, looking suspicious. Everybody ignored her.

"Sendegaya is a little further away than Shinsen, but it's probably the safest option for you, Amane-kun." Light's father said, "It's a relatively safe neighbourhood as well as very promising as far as investing in property goes."

"I don't think Misa-san's looking to get into property investment just yet, Dad." Light said, with a laugh. He didn't think Misa would be interested in property ever, but then, he hadn't thought that she had a philosophical outlook on life that was so similar to his.

Misa laughed. "Not yet, anyway. If I take on something more than what I already have, I think I'll explode!"

Everybody laughed and Light felt very much at peace with life; even if it was dull, didn't mean that there weren't enjoyable moments every now and then.

(X)

It was about 3am when Light woke up to the sound of a soft sobbing coming from the wall that adjourned to the bathroom. It was most likely that he was the only one that was able to hear it. Light crawled out of bed, and smoothed his hair out before walking out of his rom. He knocked softly on the door of the bathroom.

"Misa-san?" he asked. There was no answer, which confirmed her identity. "Please open the door Misa-san." Light said softly, "I have to make sure that you haven't hurt yourself."

The door opened quietly and there, Misa stood, tears pouring out of her eyes. She wasn't wearing her usual distinctive mascara or any of her makeup for that fact. She looked smaller without her mask, more vulnerable. "I'm alive." She said quietly, her voice hoarse, and made to shut the door when Light quickly stuck his foot in the door.

"Please Misa-san, you can talk to me, you know. You don't have to keep your grief so bottled up." Well, Light had to say that he'd been expecting this….but slightly more explosive. It was probably for the best that she'd reacted like this though. No need to wake up Sayu and his mother.

Misa just shook her head and sniffed a little more. Light sighed and quelled his misgivings about her. Like it or not, she was practically family now. He held out his arms and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay to feel sad, you know. Everybody's been commenting on how strong you've been to keep moving on like this. You've made such progress." He said, slowly stroking her hair as she sobbed into his t-shirt.

"Do you think Mummy would be mad that I want to sell our house? She bought it when it was a wreck and she fixed it up to look amazing. Daddy said that she should have been an interior decorator, and It was her dream job, but that she never got the chance because she was so preoccupied with looking after me and Haruka." Misa confided inbetween sobs.

"I don't think that she would have been. You could hardly have kept it. It must hold too many memories to ever want to continue to stay there." Light said, as he shut the bathroom door and steered Misa into his room and sat her down on his bed.

"Well, in my dream, she was shouting and wailing and hurting me for even thinking about it. And Daddy joined in too. Said that I was a disgrace and that I should leave everything of importance to Haruka, because she's the only one with any sensibility." Misa said, as she started tracing patterns in Light's bedspread.

"Well, look who's dealing with the police and the house and your degree along with your job altogether? It's certainly not your sister. You're doing all of that, much to my bemusement. You're stronger than you think, Misa-san. And it was a nightmare, your parents would never have ever said that to you. They loved you, Misa. With all they had, they loved you." Light wasn't even really sure what he was saying anymore. He was pretty sure that this was due to the lack of sleep. He wasn't usually this sentimental.

Misa blinked up at him from where she had been tucked into his side. She wiped away her tears and none fell to replace them. She was quiet for a long time, the two of them just sitting in silence on Light's bed. Light almost fell back to sleep before she responded.

"I thank you once again, Light-kun. You always seem to be there to catch me before I fall. I feel, I owe you much more than I have to give. I've never felt safer than I do with you." She said, quietly, her voice steady now.

"There's nothing to repay." Light said gently to her. "No debt, no loan, nothing. You're pretty much a member of the Yagami family now, and family help each other for nothing."

Misa smiled brightly. "I'd like that. To be part of this family, I mean. I really like it here. I hope that I'll find enough time to return here for dinner when I move out."

"I think Sayu wishes that too." Light said, smiling easily. "Well then, I have school tomorrow, so I'll head to sleep now. I hope that your dreams are sweeter than they previously were."

Misa nodded towards him, before slipping towards the door. And in her almost translucent nightgown with her soft smile and lacking her usual, heavy makeup, she looked more like an angel than the time when she'd posed in the photos.

(X)

"Bye bye, Misa-san!" said a sobbing Sayu, as she hugged Misa. It was Misa's last day with them, after almost two months in the Yagami household.

Misa was crying a little as she hugged Sayu back, but her makeup wasn't smudging and she wasn't in sheer distress. Waterproof probably. Not that Light would know. The only reason he knew that this type existed was because of the various fashion magazines that usually decorated their house when Misa was around.

"I'll call as often as I can, okay?" Misa said, letting go of Sayu.

"You better, Nee-chan!" Sayu berated angrily.

Misa laughed and went on to hug Light's mother, who returned in kind. Light hadn't really seen them interact but Misa seemed to whispering something to Light's mother that made her laugh in delight. Misa was already carrying the rather large package of food that her mother had made for Misa's moving day, which Misa had squealed and told Lights mother was so thoughtful that it had never happened before.

She then moved onto Light's father, who gave Misa a firm handshake. Misa shook it seriously, before hugging him and Light could briefly hear a lot of thanks yous for the explanations on mortgages and banks. Light couldn't stop the small smirk that came onto his face as Misa finally stopped in front of him.

"Thank you for everything, Light-kun." Misa said, softly, holding out a hand to shake.

"What, no hug for me?" Light teased, as he shook her hand. She rolled her eyes and instead, stood on her tip-toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you for helping me not go mad. Thank you for depositing me back at the station. Thanks for helping me carry all those boxes. I can't thank you enough. I just hope that this will help." Misa said, handing him a little card. "I know that you're fond of the philosophical stuff. So was my father. At To-Oh university, a man called Hiram Samitya, an Indian philosopher with worldwide connections is holding a philosophy panel for around four days during the New Years break. If you give the people at the door this card, and tell them that Amane Matsuko's daughter recommended you, they'll let you in. You'll be an honoured guest, in fact."

Light grinned as he took the card. "Thanks Misa-san. Good luck with your modelling."

She grinned and waved, as she walked out of the door and Sayu clung to him arm as she left.

(X)

It wasn't like Misa walked out of his life though. Almost every fortnight, she whisked around with some new dress and next makeup with a box of cakes that she'd baked or she'd sponsored. Usually, there were photos or concert tickets for Sayu, cooking ingredients and love for his mother and a philosophical conundrum for Light. Or another plea to just try out being a model. Like that was ever going to happen.

She soon became a part of his life, whirlwind and all, and he soon grew accustomed to the whispers of the girls when they weren't paying attention in class talking about the new Misa Amane film. But, without Misa in his daily life, he has to admit, things become dull. And so a year passes and Light drowns in schoolwork and the tedium of daily life.

And then one day, a black notebook falls out of the sky and Light's world changes forever.

(X)

Kira. It's all everyone talks about and he has to admit, it does give his ego a little boost. Ryuk laughs a lot whenever Light perks a little at hearing the name, those first few paranoid days, especially after the first announcement that L made. It's annoying however, that his family don't share the opinions that Kira has. Along with the hardened criminals he kills, the first person to go, after his two test subjects, is the man that had killed Misa's parents. A little tribute to the bright girl.

Light wishes he could talk to Misa, the person who'd agreed with his worldview that rainy day that they'd gone to Harajuku, but she doesn't arrive at all during November, nor during December, where Light pulls off his most daring move yet in killing the 12 FBI agents.

It's rather annoying really, but Misa doesn't pick up her phone anymore, which Light find odd, but he can hardly call her out on it. She had probably switched phones at this point, especially being the famous person that she was.

And of course, Misa finally shows up at the most inconvenient time of all, when the cameras are installed, and it is a time that he cannot even look like he agrees with Kira in the slightest. His ideals must not budge because he's already running the fine line for being discovered by L, he knows. So he silently apologizes to Misa when he hears Sayu's squeal and meets her on the doorstep.

"Light-kun!" she said a bright smile on her face.

"Hullo Misa-san. Finally got around to visiting us, have you?" Light teased.

She scowled. "I've been wanting to for a long time, but the Misa Misa's Happy Sweets Show is taking up so much of my free time, it's unbelievable. I brought you some of my mochi though. It's a little late for New Years, but I made some just for everyone. Will Oji-san be coming home tonight?"

"No, he's very busy working on the Kira case." Sayu said, pulling a face, as she dragged Misa in the living room.

Misa frowned. "Oji-san is working against Kira?"

"Yes," Light said, faking a weary smile, "He's head of the taskforce under L."

"Oh." Misa said, quietly. "I see."

"Don't tell me that you support Kira, Misa!" Sayu said, looking wide-eyed and furious.

Light rapped her arm sharply. "Don't Sayu. Misa's more than entitled to her own opinion. Even if we disagree with it, Misa's our guest. "

Sayu scowled. "You never have that problem whenever it's you two arguing about that stupid Stanford Prison Experiment or about the Al-Qaeda."

Light frowned darkly. "They're not quite as controversial and it was a polite argument. And I'd prefer to not get into the Kira case right before dinner, you know that Mum will kill us."

"Are you truly against Kira, Light?" asked Misa, as they sat down. "After what you said last year, I thought that you'd be for it."

"Yeah Light, aren't you for it?" asked Ryuk darkly, chuckling. Light denied the urge to grit his teeth at the irksome shinigami who didn't know when to keep quiet.

Light sighed. "What I said last year was partially me being a cynic and partially my lack of understanding of the justice system. Killing at this scale and the killing of innocents is, in my eyes, unforgivable. Every criminal has the chance to repent."

Light was repeating the same tired arguments that everyone on the internet and on the late night TV shows parroted, and Ryuk knowing it, chuckled darkly.

Misa frowned as she placed her bag on the Yagami sofa. "I just can't help but feel that Kira is more efficient than even the justice system. Crime rates in and around Japan have decreased by almost 70% from what NHN was reporting the other day. And then, you see…the man who killed my parents. He's dead. Kira killed him. And I owe Kira everything for that."

"Misa, I heard you come in! How are you?" asked Light's mother and Misa threw her arms around Sachiko.

"Oba-san! Happy New Year! I'm so sorry that I haven't visited in so long! Work has been so busy, and my music degree studying is such a pain!" she chattered and Light laughed heavily at his mother's slightly bemused expression as Misa continued to exalt about her life in full detail. His mother'd obviously gotten desensitized to Misa's brand of perky after two months without her.

Sayu grinned at Light. "Are you going to tell Misa-san something?"

Light frowned at Sayu. "Tell Misa what?"

"That you've been obsessively trying to call her for like two months?" asked Sayu.

Light let an eyebrow raise coolly. "So you've been snooping around my phone instead of doing homework. I suppose that's why you got a D on the Algebra test last week." He said, icily and Sayu glared at him.

"You're so annoying!" she said, huffing. "I can't believe you would bring that up! And anyway, you have something else to tell her too."

"Tell me what?" Misa asked, turning around. Light's mother had gone back to the kitchen to cook.

"I scored highest student in all of Japan a few weeks ago. And your phone number isn't working." Light said easily, before Sayu could say anything.

Misa squealed and threw her arms around Light. " Congratulations! I knew you were really, really smart, but not to this extent! Wow! All of Japan!"

Light smirked. "It was nothing. Anyway, phone number not working? I wanted to introduce you to a couple of friends of mine."

"Oh," Misa said, smiling, as she went for her bag, "I have a bunch of new phones now, so, I'll give you the number to my personal phone and my work phone, just in case."

Sayu blinked. "You organize your phones?"

"I have around five phones currently. Two for work, two for personal stuff and one for emergencies." Misa said, as she fishes around her leather handbag.

Light had to snicker at Sayu's dumbfounded expression. "Sayu, I think that you forget that Misa makes the same amount of money that Dad makes in a year, in about the quarter of that time. Showbiz will suck out your soul, but you can't deny that it leaves you very, very rich."

Misa rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. "Show business does not suck your soul out! It sucks your morals out."

Sayu laughed and Light snorted a little. Gods, he'd never admit it aloud, but he'd missed her simple cynical humour.

(X)

He and Misa kept in contact for a little while through their phones, meeting up for weekends out in Aoyama or Shibuya or little meetings at her modelling sets, but Light never really broached the topic of Kira with her. It was probably better to keep his opinions to himself, now that L was onto him. Act the part of the good, matured detective son.

He'd been cautious enough, he'd thought, but when L had approached him outside the university, Light had known that either L had been desperate or that Light hadn't covered his tracks well enough. But now, Light was hanging on an edge. He had to get onto the investigative team somehow. And L was almost certain to try and get close to him, try and make friends with him…

"Light, Misa-san's finally here!" Sayu yelled up the stairs. Light felt his eyebrows rise a little. That was strange. Usually, she showed up unexpected. Sayu was expecting her? Odd indeed.

"Finally?" asked Light, "I wasn't aware that you were meeting her." Light said, to Sayu as he padded down the stairs in his socks.

"I wasn't, but Misa-san's visit is overdue by like a week!" Sayu said, as she munched on some persimmon. "She usually comes every fortnight."

Light rolled his eyes. "It's most likely that she's just had some extra filming to do. You have some commercial soon, don't you?" he asked, finally turning towards the surprisingly quiet Misa. She's gaping at Light with something of a look of shock.

"Are you okay, Nee-san?" asked Sayu, tilting her head sideways in confusion.

Misa snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in while staring at Light. "Yes, Misa's fine, Sayu. Sorry, Misa just spaced out a little." Ryuk started laughing a little and Light schools his face to polite confusion. Dammit Ryuk, was it that difficult to keep quiet?

He blinked a little. "You're speaking in third person."

"My manager said that it gives me- I mean Misa, a bit of a quirk and makes m- Misa sound cuter." She said, looking slightly sheepish. "Also, it makes it easier for Misa to pretend that I'm not actually myself. After the stalker incident from a few days ag—"

"Stalker!" Sayu interrupted, looking horrified.

Misa nodded, looking uncomfortable. "It was when I was walking home. He declared his undying love for me and that he wanted me to be his girlfriend." She put her head in his hands. "I said no. How could I ever love someone so scary and so pathetic? Then he took out his knife and said something awfully cheesy, something about no one being able to have me if he couldn't."

She takes a deep, gulpy breath that sounds like she's holding tears back and Light puts an arm around her, if to stop her from crying. Women and tears. Honestly.

She nods to Light gratefully and continues. 'He was about to stab me, when he just turned around and collapsed. A heart attack."

"Kira?" asked Sayu, looking incredulous. "Kira saved you?"

Misa nodded, looking ecstatic. "I don't know how Kira knew, but I…I can't do anything but thank him. If it weren't for Kira, I'd be dead, right now. He's…he's done a lot for me. I'm…grateful. I'm grateful that he exists, even if it means that Oji-san is away from home so often."

Light sighs and Sayu looks somewhat uncertain of what to say. "Actually Light, could I talk to you for a bit?" she asked, looking a little hesitant. "In…umm, private?"

Sayu throws Light a sharp look, filled with some sort of triumph. Light isn't sure what his sister is thinking, but he's sure that he can guess. "Sure Misa-san. Dinner isn't for an hour anyway."

Light walks up to his room and Misa follows, clutching her bag between her black lace-clad arms and hands. He isn't quite sure what to think about the new gothic Lolita style clothing, other than the fact that it's slightly disarming in its distracting nature, especially since Misa seems to not favour propriety as much as most Lolita girls.

The moment they're in his room, Light offers her a seat and goes to pull out his chair. 'Kira." She says, her voice passionate and fervent.

Light feels his knuckles grip on the chair, but pulls the chair out and sits on it. "What about him?" he asks, casually. "Do you want stats or something?"

"You're Kira." She said, looking at him, her eyes wide. "I can't believe it."

"Don't be ridiculous Misa. Whatever are you on about?" Light said, bluffing his way through it. She couldn't possibly know. But…she had come into the house with an odd expression on her face. And Ryuk had been laughing maniacally when she'd walked in, which was never a good sign…

She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a black notebook that was the same size as his. "You're Kira because this notebook fell on the Earth for you as well."

Light takes the book hesitantly and sees a white shinigami hovering above Misa, looking at Light with an unreadable expression. The shinigami is bony, has only one eye and long purplish hair. "Hello shinigami." Light said, calmly. Misa smiled a little. "Her name is Rem. She's very nice."

Light turned to look at Misa. "How did you manage to figure out that I'm Kira?"

Misa smiled. "You never took the shinigami eyes, did you?" she asked and Light frowns and shakes his head. "Well, with shinigami eyes, a human is able to see the name of every person and their lifespan. That is, every person who currently lacks a Death Note. When a person with shinigami eyes looks at a Death Note user, the lifespan above their head is missing. Yours was missing the moment that I walked in through the door."

Light turns to look at Ryuk who shrugs. "I didn't know that myself." He says, looking nonplussed. Light grits his teeth a little, it's very like Ryuk to be absolutely useless.

"That's your shinigami talking to you, right?" Misa says, looking fascinated. "May Misa see him?"

Light hesitates, but she knows this much already, so he only says, "Turn around." He doesn't bother to try and go for his desk, that would take far too long and anyway, he didn't want her shinigami, Rem, to see. The shinigami seemed almost protective of Misa in her actions so far, because Light hadn't killed any stalkers in the past week, which could only mean that this shinigami had killed him for Misa.

He instead takes out the scrap from his wallet and brushes it over her fingers, before putting it back in his wallet. "You can turn around now."

She smiles at seeing Ryuk. "Wow, you're sure different to Rem! My name's Misa! What about you?"

"I'm Ryuk. Nice to meet you, toots." He said, chuckling a little.

Misa grins. "It's nice to meet you." She says, and it's very obvious that she's sincere. How abnormal. Light feels his eyes narrow, as his cold calculating side takes over.

"You haven't told anyone about this, have you?" he asked, pressing his fingers to his face.

'Of course not!" she said, looking affronted. "Who would I tell?"

"Have you used the notebook yet?" asked Light and Misa looked away and nodded.

"I had to try it out, to see if it would work. I killed a criminal that was scheduled for a trial in Saudi Arabia, for the murder of eight people." She said, looking slightly torn, before her face hardened. "Make use of me. As I said before, I'll do anything for Kira. You avenged my parents and I can't thank you enough for that. I'm embroiled even further in debt for you. Use me. I'll be your eyes. Anyone you need to kill that you can't, I'll do it!" She said, her voice passionate and zealous, but not reaching a louder volume than Light's.

"It'll have to be a gradual thing. If the killings suddenly increase in volume, L will be suspicious. He's already cautious as it is and the last thing I want him to know is that Kira's power can be given to anybody. I want to keep that little piece of information hidden until I need to make use of it." Light muses, as he gets up and paces.

"What…what are the restrictions of your eyes?" Light asks, suddenly, as the thought occurs to him.

Misa frowns and quickly rummages in her bag. She frowns for a moment and shoves the Death note into Light's hand as she finds some paper and a pen. "Okay," she said, as she started sketching. "A full face like this is ideal, but it doesn't always happen. I can see their name and lifespan from a portrait view, a fully side-on view if I must." She explains as she sketches quick little sketches of each. Light's surprised by how well she can draw.

"Can you see their faces from a video or a photograph?" Ligth asks, as she presses a finger to his face.

"Yes, that's easy." Misa said, looking up, "As long as the photo and video is clear enough to see their eyes and mouth, I should be able to see their names. But if I can't see their whole face or their eyes, it's no good."

Then to kill L…all Light would have to do is take a photo of him? More difficult than it sounds though, and L would get suspicious for sure if Light suddenly had a habit of taking pictures all the time. Bother.

"Oh yeah, and if the person wears sunglasses or some kind of other eye covering, but I can see their whole face, I can still see their names!" she said, remembering something suddenly, a grin on her face.

Light nodded, and frowned. "Keeping in contact should be fairly easy. I have your number and you visit quite often as well, so it shouldn't seem too suspicious to anyone…"

"Oh yes," Misa said, "If you want, I can increase the frequency of my visits? Or come and see you at university?"

Light shook his head. "No, don't change too much. Keep it as similar as possible. Too much change can make you seem too suspicious. Some of the best criminals have been caught out because they changed their lives and routines to fit their crimes." Light said, pulling a face; he didn't particularly like being compared to a common criminal, but sacrifices had to be made to think like L.

"So, if you were Kira, why did you act like you hated Kira?" Misa asked, looking confused. Light threw her a look. Surely even she could figure that out.

"Come on Misa, its simple double bluffing. I have no reason to show support for Kira. And L suspects me to be Kira. When you came to visit that first time, I was under camera surveillance. I couldn't make a single move that could even indicate that I was Kira or even had any support for his ideals." Light said, as he went to his desk.

Misa nodded and sighed a little. "My turn." Light said, "Why the hell did you trade for shinigami eyes? Half of your lifespan?" he asked, looking at her, "Do you have a death wish?"

Misa looked down. "I wanted to get in contact with Kira. And I knew that he hadn't got the eyes because only people with names released were dying. So I took the deal. My life isn't worth that much anyway, and…well, it's a long story, but I have a much longer lifespan now than I did before I made the deal. Another shinigami died to save me and his lifespan got added onto mine. So, even with me halving it, I'm bound to live longer than I did before I made the deal." She said calmly by the end of it. "And why are you complaining anyway? I'm useful to you now."

"I'm complaining because you're family, Misa! And I made a promise to my father a very long time ago that I wouldn't let you get hurt. And I intend to honour that agreement as far as I can." Light said sternly, as he handed her back her Death Note.

She smiled at him. "Thank you for your concern, Lig—" There was a slam on the stairs and Sayu's voice was coming and the Death Note was between them and it was far too conspicuous and he couldn't move to put it away and suddenly Misa closed the gap between them, hiding the notebook completely between their bodies and kissed him firmly on the lips.

Light had certainly kissed girls before, but none of them were quite this aggressive as Misa was, as she stood on her tiptoes and mapped out the corners of Light's mouth with her tongue.

"I knew it!" Sayu shrieked as the door burst open. "I knew that you two were hiding something!"

Misa broke away but stayed close to Light to make sure that the book was hidden. "Please go away for now, Sayu." She said, not turning around.

Sayu laughed happily. "Sure, sure, but I'm telling mum, just you wait! She'll be soo happy! Muuuum! Misa and Light are dating!"

Light merely raised his eyebrows and stepped away from Misa handing her the notebook wryly. "That was fast thinking," Light said, "And it gives us a more plausible excuse for you to be in contact with me more often. But it can't look like it's something new. It needs to have been going on for some time. L took out the cameras on the 12th of January…so when did we meet after that?"

"We met on the 22nd, if I remember correctly," Misa said, tucking her book inside her bag, "In Aoyama for some shopping."

"Hmm, then let's say that we were dating from then." Light said, as he straightened out his clothing a little.

Misa nodded and tugged at her skirt. "You have lipstick on your—yep, you got it." She said, looking a little awkward as Light quickly wiped away the bright red from his lips.

"Umm…" she said, not looking at Light.

"Come on, let's go face the music. God only knows what Sayu's going to be like for dinner." Light said darkly.

Misa giggled, slightly hysterically. "Yes, quite. I… urgh, are we properly dating now?" she asked, her face looking torn. "Because, I like you a lot."

Light felt an eyebrow rise. "Well, I'm not sure it's quite safe to call it love quite yet." He said dryly, "After all, this was created by a mutual wanting to not get caught killing criminals. And you're more like a sister, if I'm quite candid. But yes, in public, we are 'properly dating' and have been for quite a while. So no need to change your behavior too much."

Misa nodded and walked out of the door, Rem following close behind. Light put his face in his hands. This was perhaps the last thing he needed. Sure, it was good as far as plans went, but Light didn't want to be dating Misa.

"She's quite cute, huh?" asked Ryuk, chuckling.

"Shut up, Ryuk." Light said flatly. He was not in love with Misa Amane. He simply was not in love with Misa Amane. He was just using her and if she was developing feelings for them, he needed to crush them.

The last thing that Light needed were romantic relationships to distract him. More than one hero had been brought down by falling for the pretty girl and losing sight of their original goal. And a new world, free of crime and spite was so much more important than Light's feelings and Light's desires. So what if she was pretty and loyal to him alone? She was his ally, nothing more.

(X)

The next Saturday comes and with it, a tennis game with L and coffee together as the detective analyses his detective skills. And while it's irritating beyond belief, Light can't deny that he's never had to work this hard before. It's certainly interesting, playing the game of wits with L and Light hasn't had more enjoyment in a long time, especially since L is losing.

But the phone call of his father getting a heart attack is perhaps the scariest thing that Light has experienced, because surely…surely, Misa wouldn't write his father's name down? But no, she couldn't; she loved his father as much as he did, if not more by her exuberant hugs and laughter to try and make his father smile.

But, when he's sitting there in the room with L or Ryuuga or whatever he is, knowing that his father is alive, his feelings of suspicion are assuaged. His father is still alive, despite his heart attack, which had been caused by stress rather than any attack from Kira.

"Now, I'm heading home. Light, Misa's coming here now, she's just finished babysitting Sayu for me and she wanted to give you something. Soichiro, I'll be back in the morning with something to eat. Both of you, stay safe." His mother berated as she got up to leave.

Light assured her that they'd be fine before leaning forward. "Are you sure it was just fatigue that caused you to have a heart attack, Dad?" he asked. Light knew full well that it wasn't Kira, but it was the assumption he had first come to and it was best to push forward that assumption that Kira had tried to kill his father, because Light Yagami wouldn't ever do that. No one who knew him would ever say that Light would be able to do that.

"That is correct, it is logical to assume that this is Kira's work. You are the head investigation of this case, and an assassination attempt is more than justified. And the chance of Kira failing to kill his target may not be 0%. Just because we have never seen it before, doesn't necessarily mean that it didn't happen."

Light almost smirked. He didn't even have to back it up with evidence. L was doing that for him.

"Yes, but I do believe that it was not Kira." His father said, "Now that I think about it, I have been under a tremendous amount of stress lately and I do have a high blood pressure already. What with arguing directly with my superior, living in fear of death from Kira and lack of sleep, this was probably inevitable."

"Yes, what with your son also being a suspect in the Kira investigation, I can see why you would be overwhelmed." L said, biting his thumb from his odd crouching position.

Light frowned, looking as surprised as he could manage. "You told my father about that?" he asked, looking a little uncertain. Ryuk chuckled a little, as he always did when Light started acting.

"Yes. I told him everything. Including the fact that I am L." Ryuuga said, nonchalantly. Light had to give him credit, his acting innocent about everything really worked in making Light's blood boil.

'That's correct, Light. Only, we call him Ryuuzaki at the taskforce, to help protect his identity." his father confirmed and Light nodded as he looked at L. His father didn't lie, especially not to his children so this was truly L…or a proxy that had been fed to even the police. Still, killing him would be pointless until he'd eliminated the suspicion of this being another elaborate proxy. Now, he was playing the role of Light Yagami, a concerned student that was very smart.

"Oji-san? Are you in here?" came Misa's voice from the door and Light turned towards her.

"You can come in, Misa." He said easily. Misa slid in with a smile on her face. She was fairly normal looking today, wearing a black tank top and a denim jacket with several badges adorning it. She was wearing a pleated skirt and trainers. She was clearly going for the more innocent look today.

"Oh, Oji-san! Are you okay? You look awful!" she gushed as she made a beeline for the side of his bed. Her hand went to Light's father's and winced a little at the IV.

"I am feeling much better now, Amane-kun." He said, smiling a little.

"Oh, Misa brought you something! Misa knows that you eating sweets now after high blood pressure is probably silly, so tonight, on Misa's cooking show, instead of baking sweets like Misa usually does, Misa made some unagi! To help you feel better! And some soup. Misa's mother always said that vegetable soup will help people recover their health faster."

His father smiled. "Thank you Misa-san. You are very thoughtful."

"Misa didn't say anything about this all to Sayu…is that okay? It's just, Misa knew that she wouldn't sleep if Misa told her, and failing at Misa's first babysitting job would be rather sad…" Misa said, looking slightly sheepish.

"No, it's fine, Misa. We weren't going to say anything about this to Sayu anyway. She has her Math exam tomorrow, so we didn't want to worry her too much." Light interjected and she beamed at Light and nodded.

"Hey Light, how did that Crim Pysch exam go?" she asked, as she placed the food items on his bedside table.

"Not so bad. I think I may have messed up on Asch's conformity experiment. I think I missed out on the statistics." Light said, easily. That was very unlikely, but it was always best to act humble and modest, something that made everyone feel better about him.

"After all of our discussion of it last month? That's a shame." Misa said, laughing a little.

"Sachiko was telling me that the two of you were courting each other." said Soichiro and Misa froze a little and looked away, turning a convincing shade of red. Light decided to follow in her stead and look away at the wall, making his expression as embarrassed as possible. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ryuuga's face had sharpened. Thank god Misa was somewhat clever and knew not to say anything about the Death note or Light's real opinions, because Ligth knew that Ryuuga was going to exploit this.

From Misa's stammering and blushing, Light was sure that she wasn't going to be able to respond. "It was sort of inevitable anyway, Dad." Light said, making sure to rush through the words like Yamamoto did when he was embarrassed.

His father merely laughed and Light let his shoulders relax a little. Misa seemed to turn back to her original pigmentation.

"We haven't been introduced Yagami-kun." Ryuuga said, his eyes glinting a little.

"Oh, sorry Ryuuga! Misa, this is Ryuuga Hideki, a classmate of mine. Ryuuga, this is my girlfriend, Amane Misa." Light said, with a fake smile. Misa's face narrowed a little with confusion and Light willed her to not say anything. It seemed to work, because she grinned easily afterwards and bowed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryuuga-san! I know the other Hideki Ryuuga. I hope for Lght's sake that you aren't as annoying as the other one is!" she chirped and Light nearly let himself laugh. Instead he settled for a twitch at the mouth. Ryuuga however, looking openly amused, if there was a hint of derision in his eyes.

"Excuse me, visiting hours finished five minutes ago." said the nurse that came in.

"Okay Oji-san! Stay safe! I hope that you sleep well tonight!" Misa chirped as they walked out of the visiting room.

"I must say, Yagami-kun, I'm very jealous." L said, as they walked through the hospital corridors. "I've been a fan since the August issue of 18." He says, in response to Misa's curious hum.

Misa lights up and Light relaxes and puts his arm around her and lets her doing her work. "Oh really? That's brilliant! It's always nice to meet a fan!"

Light smirks a little. This is brilliant. Misa has seen this person's name. It doesn't matter if they're L or not, whomever they are, they're a liability and a part of the investigation. But now, Light knows his name. He can kill Ryuuga whenever he needs to.

"Ryuuga, I shall see you again on Monday." Light said, as they reached the doors. "I hope you get home safely. Come on Misa, let's walk to back to your flat."

Misa smiled as she tucked her arm into his. "Bye Ryuuga-san! It was nice meeting you." she said.

"Likewise, Amane-san." L said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he got into the black car that had pulled up for him.

"You know," Ryuk said, conversationally, "Something I think is quite funny, is that your father managed to survive a heart attack. Doesn't that put more suspicion on you?"

"Not really, no." Light said, pushing his hands into his pockets. "It would be suspicious if all of the other task force members died and he didn't, but this was a singular incident, caused by stress. Not a movement of Kira."

Misa frowned. "Light, that person—"

"His real name isn't Hideki Ryuuga. I know. It's a very obvious alias. He's actually L." Light explained. "I need to know his name."

Misa's eyes widened. "That was L?" she asked, looking amazed. "No offence, but he's nothing like how I expected him to look at all."

Light laughed. "Tell me about it." He said, leaning his head back.

"He's like a panda. A very annoying panda though. He sits like it too." Misa said, looking petulantly stubborn.

"But his sugar intake is a little too much for a panda. He isn't quite as fat either." Light pointed out.

Misa laughed and clung to Light's arm as she cackled, tears almost streaming down her face. Light couldn't stop the laughter himself. Now she'd said it, he couldn't unsee it. The peculiar way of holding things, the way he sat, the disheveled hair and bags…they all helped L's similarity to a panda.

"Light, I can't breathe!" she wheezed and they both stopped and leant against the wall of a nearby building for a minute, avoiding each other's gazes, knowing that they'd burst into laughter again if they looked at each other before they were fully sane.

It was reasons like this, that Light liked Misa slightly more than he ought to. No one other than Sayu was able to elicit laughter like that from him. "In all seriousness, what is his name, Misa?" Light asked.

Misa smirked. "Kiss me and I'll tell you."

Light rolled his eyes and threw a look towards Ryuk who's only response was cackling. Rem looked unhappy about this, but was silent in her disapproval, at least. Light leant down and pressed his lips against hers. Her hand went around his neck and their mouths opened. It was a lot slower and more tender than their previous kiss and her hand tracing circles against his skin produced some rather pleasant dizzying sensations in his brain. Light placed his hand on the small of Misa's back and started tracing circles there and she gasped against his mouth and they pulled away for breath.

Light wiped away the lipstick and stared at her until she'd recovered her breath. "His name," she said, her ruby-red lips quirked in a triumphantly dangerous smile, "Is L Lawliet."


	13. The Isochronous Murder Case

**The Isochronous Murder Case**

**Part 1**

**Summary: Sayu Yagami's years as a policewoman have been tedious, but a mysterious series of foreigners being murdered all over Tokyo sets off a time bomb of events, that's just waiting to go off. Who is the mysterious blonde foreigner who claims to want to help them in their task and how closely is her perfect brother linked with L? And why is there an undercurrent of a darker purpose behind all of this?**

_Whenever a Yagami walks through the NPA halls, everybody turns to look. It's a spectacle, because a Yagami is always composed, always pristine and always ridiculously efficient, no matter what time of day. The Chief of Police is renowned for his work on solving the Lapland Glacier case and the hard work put into every other case since. The youngest Yagami is no exception, an almost legend, being promoted to Head of Department in less than six months. Apparently, the youngest walked out of the training academy with the highest physical scores seen in almost two decades and a scholarship from To-Oh, of all places. Another hardworking expert. A perfectionist, a living legend walked the halls of the NPA. There was no reason to not turn a head to watch a Yagami walk by. _

(X)

Sayu Yagami woke up from her desk with a start. Her hand immediately went to the place where her gun usually was. It wasn't there "Gunshot?" she asked sleepily.

"No, a coffee mug slamming onto your filthy desk. Currently containing the most vile brand of tea I've ever tasted." Her brother Light answered, shooting her a look that was a mix between exasperated and amused. Despite carrying his own coffee and several files, he looked as composed as ever and dashing in a blue pinstriped suit.

"My tea is not disgusting." Sayu said, as she sleepily reached for it. Light slapped her hand.

"You didn't come back to the apartment again last night." He says, looking severely annoyed.

"Late shift. I took it over for Yamamoto-kun. He had a date. Who was I to begrudge him relationships outside of work? And I need to finish some translations anyway." Sayu said, rubbing at her eyes as she slumped back towards her desk.

"And did you?" he asked, looking skeptically at the disorganized chaos on her desk, "Because it sure doesn't look like it. I actually called Mum and all of your friends to see if you'd gone there by accident. I was terrified that you'd disappeared and done something stupid." He said, his voice cold, "You now owe Mum a visit. Apparently, she hasn't seen you in a month."

Sayu groaned and slumped back onto the desk. 'That's for a reason. She'll keep talking about getting married and settling down to have a family now that I'm 23. I don't want that. And anyway, you're more likely to do something crazy than I am."

Light let an eyebrow of his raise. "Right. And the sky is currently bright neon pink."

"Shut up. I'm not awake enough to deal with your sarcasm. Can I drink my tea now?" Sayu muttered. Light nodded and she took a deep gulp of the scalding hot brew. Ah, cassia oolong tea reminded of the simple times when she used to not care about anything in the world. Also, the energy content was great.

"What time is it?" asked Sayu, as she grabbed her little flip-over calendar from amidst the mess on her table.

"Just past 5am on Wednesday the 27th of February." Light said, "How have you been dating your translations?"

"I've just been putting the dates that the people have specified inside the documents and omitting the translation date." Sayu said, as she restarted her computer.

Light rolled his eyes. "Look, just go home next time. Either take the late shift and actually do some work or go home and sleep. You can't get the two locations of work and home confused or you'll never be able to separate them properly. Next thing you know, you'll be doing work at home and sleeping at work. Dad would kill you if you started that."

Sayu nods. "Sage advice, brother dear. Why don't you tell me when I'm more awake, please?"

Light laughed and shook his head. "Clean yourself up. There's barely anyone in in the office, you should be fine for appearances." Then he walked off into the distance, her perfect brother.

Sayu laughed and finished her tea at a comfortable pace, before making her way to the bathroom. There was no one around, like Light had predicted. Too early for the morning shift and the night shift were deep into their work. Once she made her way inside, she frowned at herself in the mirror. She looked like a mess, which suited how she felt perfectly.

She filled up a sink with water and washed her face and neck thoroughly, getting rid of the thin sheen of sweat and of the last remains of makeup from the day before. She hated this routine, but it needed to be done. Slowly, she went through the excruciating process of dealing with her tangled hair. She would need a haircut soon, or she would need to get some kind of straightening agent, the mess was too much to deal with.

She pulled her dark brown hair up into a tight and uncomfortable bun and placed several hairpins in her head, where they would deliberately poke into her scalp, keeping her awake. After this, she applied a thin layer of foundation and a extra thick layer of concealer underneath her eyes, to make it look less like she hadn't slept properly for three days. Mascara and eyeshadow came next until she finally looked like she fulfilled the image of the youngest Yagami.

It was stupid really, but Sayu was still unconsciously waiting for someone to call out her actions and how they didn't match with the rest of her life. Success didn't seem to fit very well on Sayu. She'd been the sports star of her schools, sure, but something all of her teachers commented on in her lessons, was how she seemed to lack a drive to do something. Not her English teacher of course, she did nothing but praise Sayu's abilities and spirit, but everyone else.

Hell, she didn't want this job. She had no particular reason to be in the police force. No sense of righteous duty like her father, no passion to see justice carried out like her brother, no pride and honour like both of them. She was doing this for utterly selfish reasons. To keep Light safe and out of danger, so he would be able to help her when she did eventually screw up. He'd always been helping her, from homework, to simply listening to her worries, to a place to stay after her boyfriend had been a jerk. Light was her rock and she didn't think she would be anything without him.

Sayu pressed her hands to her face as she glared at her reflection. Her genius brother Light wasn't perfect; of course, who was? But he was closer than most. The only thing that stung and made her wonder about what else he hid, was a time period that she couldn't explain, try as she might. It had been when he'd first started university at To-Oh, and it had been a few months into school, when he'd just disappeared without any sort of ulterior motive.

Oh, they'd been given an explanation about his disappearance, sure; some stupid story about eloping out with a girlfriend whom their father disapproved of, but Sayu knew her brother better than that. He wouldn't have given up anything for his school work. And of course, four months later, he showed up at school again and at home again, with no explanation and no antagonism between Light or her father and no sign of the mysterious girlfriend whom he'd given up his life for. In fact, her whole family had acted like it had never happened. Sayu had always wondered about what really happened, but no answer had been forthcoming, and it looked unlikely to surface now.

Sayu sighed and laughed at herself darkly. What a joke she was. Youngest head of department there had ever been, but that was fake and fabricated. Head of Communications wasn't a brilliant job or a huge feat at all, considering the department consisted of eight people and was barely required to do anything but paperwork and deliveries. She both hated and loved working there. Hated, because she never got any kind of active duty time, despite having the highest physical score for two decades, but loved, because of having to deal with the complexity of translating between four or five different languages and delivering to different locations in the most efficient manner possible.

Light's job was much more impressive though; Head of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. It was one of the most populated departments of the NPA, after forensics and traffic, and Light dealt with it all with considerable grace; considering he was 27, turning 28 tomorrow. Gods, it was his birthday tomorrow and she had nothing to give him. She was an awful sister, really, she was. She was awful at everything, bursting the seams. She wondered when it was she would fall apart. Not today, but it would be soon, this Sayu knew with a burning certainty that accompanied facts like the Earth's axis tilt, the entirety of sonnet 18 and the inevitability of death.

Pride before the fall; Sayu knew, so she never let herself feel pride. Perhaps it would delay the fall. Taking a deep breath in, Sayu walked out of the bathroom.

By the time she returned back to her desk, Yamamoto was already in, rustling around with documents and translations, stealing them off her desk, and sorting them into categories and departments to be delivered to.

"Hello Asahi-kun!" he said, with a grin, "See that you got some more work done." Asahi-kun was the moniker she'd decided upon after she'd entered the NPA. Yagami-san and Yagami-kun were already taken as honorifics by her father and brother, and nobody, least of all her, wanted to be called Yagami-chan or Sayu-san. Instead, she'd decided to use a reversal of the meaning of Yagami to create the name Asahi for her use in the office. People were still a little mystified, but it worked a lot better than Yagami-chan.

"Not much through, still got the German and Korean versions of the ICPO meeting to translate before next week's meeting. And the FBI wants information on Kurou Otoharada's movements from the analysts, so I need you to pop over to their department and do something that will either get the FBI the info or deny them." Sayu said, as she grabbed the stack of papers that needed to go to security.

"Speaking of meetings, Chief Yagami-san's assistant, that Matsuda person, the overly cheery one, he said that your father has an urgent meeting that you need to attend at 5:30am." Yamamoto said, looking rueful.

Sayu glanced at the clock. It was 5:25. It took ten minutes to get to the meeting room. Shit. "Deal with the deliveries and dock Toshiko's pay if he's late again, got it?"

Yamamoto nodded, looking slightly amused as she swept out of the room, grabbing her folders and her jacket.

(X)

"Late again Sayu?" asked Light, looking amused as she strode into the meeting room. Only her father and Light were, there, sipping cups of coffee in the empty glass room. Sayu frowned.

"Where is everybody?" she asked, as she took a seat.

"It's a more covert meeting." Her father says a frown on his face. "Take this file and read through it. A Mr. Jack Rogers was murdered today at 5:03am, in Suginami. He's a banker, here as a translator for the Yotsuba company, whom are hoping to start a sector in England. Dead by a knife through his back, while he was facing the door, judging by the blood splatters on the floor. However, his position is arranged to look like—"

"He's been stretched out on something." Sayu finished as she saw the picture. As far as crime scenes went, this one wasn't too gruesome, but it was a little odd. "As weird as this is, why are we here? It's only one murder."

"One murder that looks set to escalate to more. There was a note at the scene. It said, 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.' ― William Shakespeare." Light said, and Sayu stared at the body again.

"So they're going to murder again? And a lawyer?" Sayu said, her brain a little slow to catch up. "Why?"

"The motivation is as of yet, unknown." Light says again, quietly, as he taps his coffee cup. "But revenge is the most likely."

"That wouldn't make sense." Sayu says, immediately, "If he wanted revenge on lawyers, he would have killed a lawyer first. No, this is something else, surely you can see that."

"I can see it," Light said quietly, "But I'd prefer to class it as revenge until evidence that indicates otherwise."

"So, what do you want us to do?" Sayu asked.

"Investigate. See if anyone saw anything suspicious and if there's anything strange about the room itself. See if there's any kind of connection between this guy and lawyers." Her father said, looking serious. "I can trust you to be discreet, yes?"

Light nodded and Sayu followed suite. "Of course, Yagami-san." He said, earnestly and Sayu got up.

"Well, I have to go inform Yamamoto that he has to run the department without me for a day. I guess you'll have to deal with yours, Light?"

"Yes, I'll have to instruct Sayaka-san to take over the work. I'll meet you at the train station in twenty minutes?" Light asked as they both got up to depart from the room.

"Sure." Sayu said, her mouth quirking into a half-smile. Ever authoritative, her brother.

(X)

It's around 6am when Sayu and Light board the train line to Suginami. She's tired already and this is her third cup of tea and she can already tell that she's in over her head with this case.

"I wonder why dad wanted us for this case specifically?" Sayu asked in a whisper, as she undid her hair, so she looked more like a student, rather than a policewoman.

"Because it's difficult and you're one of the best field agents we have and my deductive skills are exemplary?" answered Light in kind, shrugging as he put on a hoodie over his shirt. His jacket was neatly folded into his bag.

"Ehh, it's just strange. We're both heads of department and they aren't supposed to do active fieldwork, you know?" Sayu explained in a low tone, as she too shrugged on a hoodie from her college days when she used to be into pop idols and fashion stars. "We get off in ten minutes, right?"

"Yep. It's not far. The DNA samples around his body and the room should be done soon." Light said and Sayu nodded.

"Do you think that will give us a definitive hint as to who did it?" Sayu asked.

Light shook his head. "I don't think so. This is a lot more ambiguous as far as murders go. It's a clever murder. And it's hardly difficult to hide fingerprints, if you're thorough."

"I hope that it isn't a clever murder." Sayu mutters. Light's obviously heard her but he says nothing. And that itself is indicative of his stance on the murders.

His phone goes off and Light quickly answers it, before the other bleary passengers on the train glare too much and draw attention to the two of them. His voice is low and whatever the other person is saying is too quiet for Sayu to hear. Sayu merely sits back and shuts her eyes a little, as he finishes the call.

As soon as the call finished, Light turned to her, a grim expression affixed on his face. "Three more people just died. Murdered, knife through the back again. All foreign, all three are lawyers. Thing is, they all died at exactly the same time. 6:03am. And…they're all in different locations. One died in Nerima, one in Toshima and one more in Chiyoda. Police haven't visited the crime scene yet, but they're bound to get much more people on this case now that four people are dead. Sayu, we're looking at a huge case, if the trend of people dying on the hour increases."

"We're dealing with a group of killers then, aren't we?" Sayu said, looking horrified.

"Got to be. I can't see any other way they could die at the same time but so far apart from each other." Light said, frowning, pressing two fingers to his cheek.

"We're still going to the crime scene of Rogers's death, right?" asked Sayu, as the train stopped at their station.

"Of course. It started there, so we'll probably find some more evidence. If we can find a link between the killings other than the clues that he's leaving us, then we should be able stop the organization." Light said, frowning.

"Should we contact the Organized Crime Bureau? See if they know anything about this?" asked Sayu, shoving her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, as they got off the train and started walking through the busy subway.

"No." Light said quickly, "Not yet. For now, we're still in charge of this case. Taxi!"

(X)

"Gods, this is the most disgusting apartment ever." Sayu said, as she stepped over a few discarded clothes that were strewn across the floor. There were piles of beer cans and insta-ramen boxes stacked along the side of the room and Sayu wrinkled her nose.

"Well, we can be sure that the police didn't touch his stuff. The crime scene looks exactly like it was. Minus the body." said Light as he picked his way through the clothing. "And this is nothing compared to the apartments of some of my school friends. You're spoiled by Mum's obsessive cleaning and the fact that we never use our apartment for anything but sleeping and occasionally eating."

"Oh wow." Sayu said, "Looks like he was a secret otaku! Look at how many Astro Boy manga books he has! And wow…he has every single Naruto episode to date!"

"That's something." Light said, as he knelt down to look at his work papers. "He seems to be rather slack about his work too. Look, half of this stack is letters about how bad he is at his job and how his pay is being docked. Yotsuba seemed to be on the verge of firing him."

"Can't blame them," Sayu said, "But that would serve as a good motive, wouldn't it? Bitterness over getting docked pay so he gets involved in crime and does something wrong there too and gets shot for it."

Light shook his head but paused. "Well, it isn't _completely_ implausible, just unlikely. Check the apartment for any signs of your thesis being correct. "

"Yeah…" Sayu said, as he quickly ducked into his bedroom and gagged at the sheer amount of clothing and porn that was strewn everywhere. "This is actually disgusting. You can deal with this Light."

Light peered in over her shoulder and his nose wrinkled as well, looking politely disgusted. "Yeah, that's not happening. Just wear your gloves and do it."

Sayu sighed as she ventured into the room. "I'm burning this suit as soon as I can, you hear? Burning it."

"You do that Sayu." Light said absently, from the other room. Sayu sorted through the clothing and porn for some kind of information, but she could see no evidence of drugs or any kind of deals with the Yakuza.

"Nothing. Have you got anything?" She called, as she left Jack Roger's room.

"No, I haven't got anything. But, the DNA results for all four murders just came back. There are no fingerprints in the apartments at all, apart from the fingerprints of the person who was murdered. Not a single other person, which either means that the murder victims were so isolated that no one came to their houses, which is obviously incorrect judging by the speed they were found, or that the murderer actually took the time to wipe every single other fingerprint. What worried me the most, is how he managed to tell which fingerprints were the murder victim's and which ones weren't at the speed that he did." Light said, as he stared at the phone in a sense of shock.

"They." Sayu says, "They did. We already know that this is a multiperson organization committing these crimes. If they're rich, the people involved will have enough money to get technology like that."

Light pulled a face. "But Sayu, _we_ haven't got technology like that and we're the police! We'd need to have a portable scanner of the whorls _and_ a database of the fingerprints they match too."

Sayu shook her head. "You're thinking too much and too hard. All they'd need was the spray the UV light stuff on and look at where fingerprints are all over the apartment. If they had a picture of the victim's fingerprint, they know that every other fingerprint that doesn't match the one they have, is to be erased. More simple, more effective and more practical than what you suggested. To be frank though, if all the flats are like this, that must have been tough!"

Light laughed a little. "I suppose it does make more sense."

"Actually, I had a question, Light. Was there another clue at the scene of the crime this time around?" asked Sayu.

Light paused. "Not as clear a message as the previous time. It doesn't immediately say that they're targeting these people. But, it's a fairly simple clue, if you can think in circles. They left two numbers on the floor, cut out of a book. I asked the police to quickly flick through all of the books at the apartment to see if there were any common links between all three flats while you were searching Rogers's room. There was a book at every single flat that was exactly the same with the two numbers on the floor being page numbers cut out of the book."

"What was the book?" asked Sayu, as they walked out of Rogers's flat. There were no clues to be had there.

"Japan for tourists. Some handbook about the good places to go in Japan. I asked the police to flick to the word number that the page number specified. The words I got, in no particular order were, umbrella, right, inbetween, border, dam, line, see and every. Rearrange the words and take the first letter of each, and you get, builders. They're targeting foreign builders next." Light said easily, as they walked down to the road.

Sayu gaped at him. "And you did all of that in the twenty minutes I took to search?"

"Not fast enough, it seems. We now have 20 minutes until the next set of murders to find which builders they are targeting out of the entire Kanto region and catch at least a few of the perpetrators." Light said, as he sped up his walking. "Taxi!"

"Where are we going now? Back to base?" asked Sayu as they got inside the taxi.

"No, we haven't the time. The closest library, please." Light said, turning to the taxi driver. "Computers." He explained to Sayu and she sighed. Her brother and his hacking skills were legendary, but still? Did he have to go show off his talents by accessing the police database through the ridiculously slow computers at the public library?

(X)

Sayu followed Light's quick instructions as they hacked into the computers to access the police database.

"Run a search for the foreign builders. I'll go A-M, you go from N-Z, that way we'll get more done." Light said, shortly, the moment they'd managed to get in.

"Any country specification?" asked Sayu, as she quickly typed in the parameters for the search.

"Nope the victims are completely random. Two victims from the US, one from Sweden and one from India. Completely random as far as their country goes, other than the fact that they aren't from Japan and have no sort of relation to Japan other than their work." Light said, as he sat back, looking bored as the computer printed out a list of names.

Sayu felt equally bored as the computer started searching. The names had already totalled 80 in a minute and looked set to get even higher. She knew that there were a lot of builders in Japan, but even she'd been unaware of the scope of how many they were and just how many of them were foreign.

She threw a look towards the clock. It was 6:59am. Four minutes until the killers struck. They weren't going to be able to save them. Light notices her gaze and sighs.

"We can't make much of a difference, but we can try. Even if we arrive early on the scene of one of the next crimes, we might be able to gain some information that will help us catch them before the next batch of murderers." Light says, his voice firm in its confidence.

Sayu nodded with a sigh and quickly emailed Yamamoto the results of her and Light's combined searches. She asked him to send it over to the analysts to see if any of the people matched any patterns they'd seen with the previous victims, but, Sayu wasn't expecting much.

The clock turned to 7:03am and Sayu placed her head in her hands. Gods, she was tired and some people were currently having their lives extinguished and there was nothing she could do about it. Light looked equally exhausted. She wondered if he were now as happy that the murderer was clever, as he had been before.

"How many do you think it is this time?" asked Sayu, as she got up from the computer to stretch out her muscles.

"I'm not sure. You need at least three terms in a sequence to be able to distinguish some kind of pattern or nth term." Light said, his voice sounding old.

Sayu sighed and stared as her computer pinged. She sighed and opened up the email message.

"It's from Yamamoto," Sayu says, her eyes quickly scanning the details of the letter. "Another six people just died. Builders too, like you guessed. And they died either at home, or, something new in this case, two were killed in their train lines, on their way to work. "

Light started and came over to her screen and looked at the names and faces of the people. "Hmmm…" he said, "There seems to be no obvious correlation. Guess we'll have to do some background trawling. Let's head back to HQ, but before you do, send an email to Yamamoto, and ask him to get half of my bureau pitching in with the analysts. We need that information."

Sayu nodded and started typing the email. Once she'd sent it, Sayu closed down the terminal and started the fairly long and complex process of returning the IP address back to the public access of a library. Light was doing the same with his computer, when his phone beeped.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking confused. "Restricted number? What's this?" Then his eyes widened and he gazed at the phone in stark horror. "Sayu…" he said, his voice low, "How many people have died so far?"

"You're better at Math than I am!" Sayu protested and Light merely sighed.

"Just oblige me, Sayu."

"Urgh, fine! 1 plus 3 is 4. 4 plus 6 is 10. Ten people dead." Sayu said, rolling her eyes. The phone continued to ring, despite Light having stared at it in utmost horror for over a minute.

"And guess which international detective is notified after 10 deaths?" Light murmured, a strange tone to his voice that Sayu hadn't heard before. Sayu frowned, the only international detective, she knew about was…oh. Him. L.

Everyone knew who L was. He had been a shadowy figure before 2003, but after the Kira case, where he'd announced himself to the public in order to bait Kira, his reputation was well known. Sayu still hazily remembered living in fear of Kira, but that had been a long time ago. She had been 14 then, and now, she was 23. Times changed and memories faded. Kira was long gone, though the ending of the case had only ever been ambiguous to the public eye.

Light was still staring at the phone. With a deep breath, he pressed the end call button and turned off the cell phone. Sayu raised her eyebrows.

"Light?" she asked.

"He's not wanted." Light said, calmly, "It's our case. We'll solve it, just fine."

"But, we could do with some help. What if he has some insight that we don't?" Sayu asked, as she frowned at her computer.

"Trust me, I'm faster than he eve—"

Light froze as he phone rang again. He exchanged a look of horror with Sayu and reached into his coat pocket. The restricted number was on the screen again.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Sayu," he said slowly, staring at the phone. "But didn't I turn this off?"

"Yes." Sayu said, as she got up from the computer. "You did, I saw you."

Light stared at his phone with horror. "Then how the fuck is he calling me if my bloody phone is off?"

Sayu shook her head and stared as Light pressed the End Call button. The phone started ringing not seconds later and to her surprise, her brother's face contorted into deep anger. He pressed the green button. Sayu waited with bated breath.

"Listen L, I have no intention of letting you work on this case. I have got it under control. Back off, do you hear me?!" Light said. There was a sly, cold anger to this tone and it was harsh and brutal in a way that Sayu had never seen her brother act before. He pressed the End Call button before anyone could reply and to her surprise, Light grabbed the phone and smashed it.

Sayu's eyes widened. "Light!" she exclaimed.

"He'll probably track me using the phone. And in any case, I don't know how the fuck he got into my phone bu—"

He froze as Sayu's phone started ringing in its cheerful tune. Sayu lifted it out of her bag. "Restricted number." She says.

"Turn it off, Sayu. Or smash it. Please." He said, and his voice was pleading, begging with Sayu. His face was contorted into anger however and Sayu sighed. She pressed the Accept call button, to Light's horror.

"Hello, this is L, correct?" she said into the phone.

"That is correct, Sayu Yagami." A modulated voice told her.

"The case so far seems to be on the hour, every hour; foreign victims dying with a knife to their back, and we are given a hint as to the profession of what victims he picks next by some small clue that we piece together. Other than the jobs specified, there seems to be no other link between them. Analysts are currently running all of their data together to see if they can find a link. The forensics experts say that the killers have very deliberately wiped every single fingerprint in the house that is not the victim's. It's a group of people and a motive is as of yet, unascertained." She firmly reported. Light glared at her, his eyes seething with fury. She ignored him.

"Now, L. Let's play the game in this way. You leave our investigation alone. We leave yours alone. We both have access to the same resources and same information. Whoever finds the killer first wins." said Sayu and waited for L's response. Light's was a straightening of the back and a devilish smirk.

"I see. A game. How fascinating. Very well, I'll play. However, since there are two brilliant minds running around on the side of the Police, I will be sending in my operatives. You will most likely interact with them. Do play nicely." L's mechanical voice said and Sayu frowned a little at the condescension in his tone, even with the filter masking his real voice.

"Of course. How else would we play?" asked Sayu, before flicking the phone down to a shut position.

"There, a compromise. Both of us are on the same case, which means less people are likely to die. At the same time, you don't have to work with him, since that seems to be such a problem for you." Sayu said, darkly.

Light shot her a grateful look and buried his heads in his hands. "I just can't work with him, Sayu." He murmurs. "He'll drive me up the bend. I put up with him for four months, I'm not doing it again."

Sayu frowned, but didn't ask the question that she wanted to. Light didn't need that right now. "We need more information on the case," she said, "Can you send an email to Yamamoto asking about the clues left at this sce—"

Suddenly, something awful occurred to her. She clapped her hands to her mouth. If she was right, she'd missed something vital that could have just saved one more life. "Light," she said urgently, "What was the book common at all three of the houses?"

"The Japan tourist handbook." Light said and Sayu strode through the library to find the Dewey Decimal chart. There, number 915.7 in aisle 24. She quickly walked towards it and Light followed her.

"Do you remember the exact title?" she asked. In answer, Light pulls out a book from the shelf and handed it to her. Sayu nodded. "Page numbers?" she asks, hoping that she's wrong with the deepest part of her heart.

"8, 27, 68, 94, 36, 75, 56, 34." Light recites and Sayu quickly finds the pages as she walks back to where they'd printed out the information about the deaths. She checks the locations. They match exactly.

Sayu drops the book and collapses to the ground. Her head is in her hands and she lets out a scream of distress. Six people dead because she hadn't been able to connect the dots—

Light pulled her up and looked at her furiously. "Don't you dare blame yourself. If anything, I'm to blame for missing that. I was looking at the subliminal context, instead of the obvious one. You can't catch every mistake I make. Come on. Don't fall apart now!"

Sayu breathed heavily and controlled her facial emotions, keeping her eyes shut. Once she felt that she was over her frustration and despair, she opened her eyes. Light had finished packing up and logging off the computers and had their coats slung over his arm.

"Come on Sayu, let's head back to base. By the time we get there, the data we need should have gotten to us. I don't think we should head to the scenes of the crime unless something really strange happens. We should stay at base where most of our information is." Light said firmly and Sayu nodded.

(X)

As they arrived, Sayu pulled off the hoodie, and tied her hair back up into a neat ponytail. Light followed suit, looking as pristine as ever in his blue pinstripe shirt and purple tie. However, once they got into the room, they were met with a surprise. A man around her age was in the lobby, looking somewhat bored. He looked like a foreigner, with long chin-length blonde hair, larger-than-life black leather clothing and hiking boots that stomped around and generally made a lot of noise. He was eating chocolate and tapping away at a laptop as he sat on the receptionist desk, which was currently missing a receptionist.

"Hello, can I help you?" asked Sayu, as she approached him. Light was already making his way up to the main building, most likely to get as many of his department on the case.

"Hmm? Not really. I need to find a Yagami Light and a Yagami Sayu." He said, not even looking up from his computer.

"Like I said, how can I help you?" Sayu asked and the stranger looked up and his eyes widened a little upon looking at her.

"The name's Mello. I'm one of L's operatives. I'll be working on the actual running around and dealing with paperwork. I'm here to help as much as I can." He said, holding out a leather-clad hand to shake.

Sayu tentatively shook it. The leather was cool and smooth to the touch. "You obviously haven't been told about the recent update in the situation. L and the Japanese police will be competing for finding the killer." Sayu said, looking a little apologetic. It would have been nice to work with someone who seemed pretty confident in his abilities.

"Hmm, I know about that little game. Nice of you to make this interesting. Still, we're supposed to be sharing information. So, I'll be here for the time being. Most likely following you to get as much information as possible, since you and your brother are the main investigators in charge of everything." Mello said, shutting the laptop and hopping off the desk, with a graceful motion.

"Light probably won't be too pleased about that." Sayu said, as she made her way up the stairs.

He threw her a look, one of his blonde eyebrows raised. "And what about you?"

Sayu didn't answer, and that was an answer in itself, really. He smirked as they entered the main room. There were a lot of people talking and rushing around. A typical day at the NPA. She spotted Light almost instantly; he seemed to have already buried himself in a stack of paper. Typical.

"Light, what are you doing? That's an analyst's job."

"All of them are absolutely useless." He said, also not looking up. 'They're telling me that they couldn't find a single link between the ten murders. Absolutely useless. There'll be something, there simply has to be. The murders are very deliberately planned, there is definitely something linking the victims other than their being foreigners. Almost 40% of the Kanto region consists of foreigners, they aren't going to just kill off every foreigner. That would be statistically impossible, someone this smart wouldn't try a stunt like that."

"They might just be driven by revenge though? I thought you wanted to classify it as that?" Sayu asked, as she dragged out a chair to sit on. She too grabbed some paper but Light slapped at her hand.

"Leave it, Sayu. That was back when only Rogers was dead. And revenge, heck any passion-driven crimes are usually sloppier. No, this is neat, this is cold, this is efficient. There's a more concrete reason behind them, a cold calculative mind behind this." Light said absently, as he scanned through the papers at a ridiculous speed.

"What was the clue left behind at the scene of the crimes?" asked Sayu. In response, Light pointed to a little bundle of papers at his feet. Sayu picked them up and frowned. "Sudoku?"

Mello started and plucked them out of her hand and stared at them, some unreadable expression on his face. He took out three of them and snapped pictures of the other three with his phone. Then, he grabbed a pencil from his laptop bag and started solving, his face in a permanent frown as his eyes darted across the paper.

Sayu stared at the two of them and rolled her eyes. "What the hell do I do, Light?"

"Get me some coffee, would you?" he asked, not even looking up.

Sayu growled. "I am not a coffee girl, Light! Try again. What the heck do I do to help this investigation?!"

"Like I said, get me some coffee. And get some for yourself, you look tired." He said.

"Urgh! Men!" she screeched, as she got up from her chair.

"Hey, don't lump me in with him." Mello said, looking up. "I've done nothing to you."

"Yet." Sayu said darkly, before striding away to the coffee machine. Just to spite Light, she added about 10 extra sugars and two extra creams to his usually black coffee.

"Here, you ungrateful lump." she said, placing the cup on the floor next to him. She handed another to Mello, with a few sugars and creams. "I wasn't sure how you took your coffee usually, so I just brought some stuff."

Mello looked vaguely surprised. 'Thank you, Yagami-san." He said, as he added a sugar satchet to the cup. "That's very thoughtful of you. By the way, all six of the puzzles are finished."

Sayu blinked. "Already? But it's only been 10 minutes!"

"I solved two of them, my colleague solved the other four. He's very good with puzzles." Here, Mello pulled a face and Sayu got the idea that his colleague and he weren't on the friendliest of terms.

Even Light looked vaguely impressed then frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch who you were?"

"The name's Mello. I work with L. I'm here because the rest of my colleagues are a bunch of lazy arses and can't be bothered to take a plane here from wherever the hell they are. Also, they don't want their faces out for anyone to see. Names and faces are dangerous, after all, in a world where information is so easily obtained." Mello explained as he stretched out lazily.

"Any pattern?" asked Sayu, as she leant over his shoulder to take a look at the Sudoku puzzles.

"Nothing so far, but there's got to be some sort of message, judging from what happened with the previous murder. The group that are orchestrating the murders told you they were targeting lawyers, didn't they?"

"It's a different group of people with every murder. First, the victims after Jack Rogers were lawyers, but the second time round, the group told us that they were targeting builders and told us the places they were planning to kill. But we caught on a little too late to save any lives." Sayu said, as she looked at the numbers. "Maybe there's some kind of code in the numbers? Like leet speak?"

"Leet speak?" asked Mello looking a little confused.

"Got it!" Light said, triumphantly. Sayu turned around. Light's face was glowing as he brandished the papers at her. "Only eight out of the ten killed have this on record, but it's such a tiny detail that I'm sure that it's just been missed out for all of the other people. Nearly all of the victims, when entering the country, were stopped at airport security but not only the metal detectors, but the sniffer dogs as well. They got let off, because the airport security couldn't find anything. This is relatively common, so it's barely taken notice of by the records, but think about it. Eight out of ten victims are stopped at airport security twice and are let off? What does that suggest to you?"

"The airport officials were corrupt?" Sayu asked.

"Well, to an extent, but that's not the point. The murderer is clearly pointing out that these people were actually smuggling something into the country. But why? And what were they smuggling? Who for? All it raises is more questions, even if we've managed to find the connection between them." Mello said clearly, as he rapped his leather-clad fingers across his face.

"But they're vital questions, nonetheless." Light said, stacking most of the paper back to their original positions. "Why does the murderer want to eliminate the smugglers? And most of all, why does he want to catch the police's attention? The way these murders are arranged are simply too clockwork, too showy to simply be revenge or even punishment murders. This group of people… they want their actions to be noticed by the police and they want the police to know about the smuggler network. Why?"

"I agree, it doesn't make much sense; if the group was some sort of vigilante justice, they'd want their name to be known to the wider public. Yet, there is no calling card or even any sort of fame involved. They're just murdering what seem to be innocent people. If they were people wanting to make sure the crimes were brought to light, they'd have given the police an anonymous tip so that we could arrest them. This…this is pointless." Mello concurred, as he got up and paced, snapping a little bit off his chocolate.

"What if it wasn't to catch the attention of the police though?" Sayu asked, as she finished her cup of coffee. "What if was to catch the attention of L? You said it yourself Light, L gets involved in interesting cases that have more than 10 victims. This satisfied both criteria and it worked as well. They started killing at five. It's now7:30am and L's already on the case. They've got all the attention they wanted. But now what?"

Light frowned. "We have to make sure that this case doesn't reach public attention. Keep it away from the media. If attention is what this group wants, we'll make that they don't get it."

"Is it wise to anger them though?" asked Sayu, "They're dangerous if they can kill in broad daylight without anyone noticing. They killed two of the people on a subway line! Who knows what they'll do if they don't get the attention they want?"

Light frowned. "I'll take that chance. If we release this to the public, the media will have a field day. The last thing we want is to make the group a celebrity group. People will start to support their actions, especially if the smuggling thing gets out. No, we need more information. We know that ten people are going to die next. We need to prevent that and catch some of the criminals at their game."

"That requires deciphering the clues. Which my colleague has just finished doing. You were right, Sayu. It was a number code. Each puzzle operates somewhat like a magic square. All of the solutions have to equal one number when added together. With sudoku, the answer is always the same, 45, because the only numbers you can use are 1-9. The additive factorial of 9 is 45. Yet... each of the Sudoku puzzles were different in a way. Two were normal, two were what you would call hypersuduko, with additional overlapping boxes to fill in and the last two were constructed out of words instead of numbers. Same difference, except if you rescramble the letters provided at the bottom of the first worded puzzle, we get the word 'Ambidextrous'. Not nine letters. 12 instead."

Sayu blinked. "I barely understood any of that. Please don't go into the genii specifics and tell me who the next victims are."

Light rolled his eyes and Mello merely laughed. "Ambidextrous people who've been stopped by airport officials. This particular clue though, is for historians. However, my colleague also suspects that there will be people from Russia because of the additive property of 45. A location with the latitude and longitude of 45 is inside of Russia." Mello said, with a smile.

"Could you also not take the multiplicative factorial of nine? 362,880 right?" Light said. "If you change that the latitude and longitude format it would be 36.2880."

Mello nodded. "But that's a very, very specific location in Turkey, some tiny rural town. It's very unlikely that the killer is pointing there."

Sayu frowns. "What makes us think that the killer is pointing at all? This all seems like you're trying to make the evidence fit something. The group was very oblique about most of their clues, we were just too focused on something complex to gain them. I feel we are heading in the same direction. What if the profession is correct, but we are looking for those that play Sudoku? Or are Sudoku champions? Or something more obvious? If I am incorrect, you should feel free to search for historians that come from strange towns in Russia and Turkey."

Light and Mello both nodded and Sayu grinned a little. Success. Something that wasn't ridiculously complicated Math and over her head.

(X)

"I hate searching databases." Sayu complains, as she feels her eyes water a little from the third Sudoku database she's hacked into and its complicated ranking system. "I'd prefer to go and shoot something or someone."

"Patience Sayu," Light said, as he leant back from his computer, "We still haven't found many suspects and we don't know the killer. You can't go shoot anything yet."

"We have five people already. Can't I go set a trap for the killer with those five, while you search for more?" Sayu asked.

Light sighed. "Sayu, we can't even guarantee that they'll be targeted. We just know that they fit the criteria."

"But it's extremely likely that the killer will select those and we're nowhere near solving this case. I need to do something and this is my best shot." Sayu said, "I'll take a few people and we'll go set up traps in the houses."

"What kind of trap?" asked Mello, as he leant backwards in his chair.

"Cameras, wire-taps, lack of a person to find, or better yet a fake person. And then some kind of message." Sayu narrated quickly and Mello shook his head.

"Won't work. Mostly, they'll all be at work, by now, so cameras will be very difficult, since most historians work in very public locations, like schools, universities or museums. Also, the killers knew exactly where the people they wanted were. Even if we move them, there's no guarantee that they'll fall for the bait, especially if they have some kind of tracking on the person. Also, all of the victims are foreigners. All of the police force are Japanese. You have a very large, glaring problem there." Mello quickly explained and Sayu raised an eyebrow.

"Guess who is foreign and is working with us." She said flatly and he sighed and muttered something to himself in a language that wasn't English or Japanese. It didn't sound particularly flattering.

"For one thing, I'm blonde. That's really uncommon in foreigners. None of the people so far are blonde. Second thing, I'm not showing my face to the people that could potentially kill me. I'm a fairly cautious person and that sounds like suicide to me. Thirdly, no, it still wouldn't work because you haven't addressed the issue that concerns me most about the actual victims. How the hell do the people know exactly where they are all the time?" Mello argued.

"Why don't we find out?" asked Sayu, "Can't hurt, right? We're not getting anywhere with this!"

"Fine then, Sayu! Go ahead! Go and set up a bloody trap!" Light snapped, looking annoyed. "Go ahead and ruin everything! Go ahead and get yourself killed! So long as you aren't _bored_, I suppose that's alright!"

Sayu swelled up angrily. "That's low, Light. Exactly who caused the most trouble in school because he wanted to or because he was bored? Because it certainly wasn't me!"

"Oh yes, but who is it that everyone remembers as the best and the brightest? That's right, Light Yagami. Not Sayu. Listen to me for once in your life, sit and down and stop being a fool! We will solve this case and we will do it without unnecessarily risking the lives of the people involved!"

Sayu sits down and crosses her arms over her chest. "So, does that mean that in your eyes, one policewoman, whose job it is to risk her life, is worth more than ten innocent civilians? That's cold Light, even for you, you heartless bastard." She spat out.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. It's basic human philosophy and psychology, Sayu, and you know it is. One person close to you is worth more than ten, one hundred, even one thousand whom you've never met or seen. This is a survival instinct. If we cared for everyone equally, we'd never be able to prioritize whom to save." Light spat, as he kept searching through the database.

"We're policemen, not politicians or philosophers! It isn't our job to prioritize whose lives are more important in the great scheme of things. We just save as many as we can! That means I can't sit by here and wait this next hour for another ten people to die!" Sayu retorted, angrily.

"You know," Mello said, leaning back casually, as he pushed his laptop into his bag, "I hate to break up this sibling angst-fest, but I just had an idea that will be able to get you feeling a little less useless and won't be life threatening. All of the victims so far passed clearance security at Haneda Airport, despite having pretty firm suspicion that they smuggled stuff through the borders. Go speak to the people in charge there. I'll come with you and we can scare the information out of them if we must."

Light nodded. "That sounds good. Keep your cell phone on, Sayu."

"What, so you can shout at me some more about how I'm useless?" Sayu asked, acidly.

"No, so I can make sure that you haven't been murdered and track you down." Light explained, looking annoyed. He raked a hand through his hair, until he looked positively disheveled. "Look, I'd apologize, but we both meant everything we said to each other, so that would be pointless. Please stay safe. Don't die. Mother would kill me if you did so, and that would be a terrible shame indeed."

Mello snorted and Sayu smiled weakly. "Hmm, yeah," she said, as she hurriedly threw most of her stuff into her bag, "Call me when you get all of the suspects, 'kay?"


	14. Anthony Rester (Carter)

**Summary: Anthony Rester wasn't the same as the rest of his co-workers. Written for his birthday.**

Anthony Rester's motives for joining the SPK were different to most of his coworkers.

Lidner was revenging the death of her younger brother, one of the FBI agents that had been killed by Kira in the initial movements of Kira. She'd heavily mourned his death and had sworn to follow in his footsteps, even if it cost her life.

Gevanni was trying to create more trust between he and the police, Gevanni being a former criminal who nobody quite trusted. Of course, he'd confided to Rester that he was also trying to get Kira before he too died from Kira's purging techniques.

Schmidt had been trying to prove to his wife, who wished to divorce him, that he was actually worth something and could go onto special taskforces.

Skyner had been trying to collect more money so that he could fund for his daughter's wedding which she wanted to host in Hawaii.

Ratt had been trying to get his little brother back from the Mafia and had become a spy in the SPK for Mello so that his little brother would survive.

Rester…Rester had been tired of living and used Kira as a reason to prolong his life a little longer.

It was a little heartless, but it was the truth. It had felt that he had reached all the points in life that one could. He'd became one of the top agents in the FBI, he'd headed up a covert operations squad, he'd served in the first Gulf War, he'd married, had a beautiful daughter and a charming son, what more could one do?

Then, Rester's perfect life had collapsed around him. His wife had walked away, saying that he wasn't around enough for her to love him, and she'd taken his children with her. Then, his son and daughter had died in a hostage situation at their school and his position at the FBI was terminated after he'd let the leaders of one of the largest drug cartels walk free.

He'd built up walls of making himself look pristine and neat, to hide the shambles that his life had become. He'd learnt as much as he could and made sure that his real expressions were never revealed on his face. To survive, he'd done some of the most demeaning jobs that had ever existed, but never once had Rester turned to crime.

That he refused himself. He would not fall that low. He refused to fall that low.

And then, he was offered a chance to fight against Kira. For Rester it had been a no-brainer. It was something to relieve that dull hopelessness that had pervaded his life. It had given him a purpose again, besides getting up in the morning. And seeing his employer had changed none of that. If anything, it had strengthened his resolve where it had weakened others.

Lidner had once revealed that she honestly had considered quitting once she'd realized that their hopes lay on a child who still played with toys and didn't look like he had ever seen the outside world. Rester however, had merely shrugged it off. He'd seen weirder.

That was why he had become Near's most trusted operative, because he'd never once expressed any doubt in Near's capabilities. At heart, Near was still a child and would favour those who held him in a regard above those who doubted him. Rester didn't particularly care that his employer was a child, because frankly his frightening intelligence and deductions were more than enough to make up for that.

Not that Rester could deny that he had gotten annoyed with the boy, at times. The downright unreasonable demands made, the ridiculous amount of toys that needed purchasing, the strange things he said at odd times of the day, the inability to _go to sleep_…

Yes, Rester wasn't some hapless follower. He had a lot of opinions about Near's ability to survive in the real world, especially when he'd revealed that he'd never flown on a plane alone. But, the fact remained, that Near was their only hope for defeating Kira.

It was strange, but compared to the others, Rester didn't really have anything in particular against Kira. He'd actually reveled in his arrival. It had made being a broken wreck of a man easier, without things like criminals with drugs or guns tempting him away from the path he'd trod before. But Rester saw that Lidner, Gevanni, Near, even Mello, the teen that had killed so many of their comrades-in-arms, they wanted Kira dead and buried more than anything in the world.

And Rester might have locked away his emotions so tightly that the rest of the world would never see them, but they still existed and he'd grown to care for the small team that had been forged under the blade of an imminent danger.

Rester sometimes felt like he knew his comrades better than they knew themselves. In his stoic demeanour, his coworkers had found solace and Rester had never been someone to deny that. They talked to him a lot, about their daily lives or about their fear, knowing that he would listen and that he wouldn't judge. After all, who was Rester to judge? When he'd fallen so low?

He knew that Lidner's playlist consisted only of Beatles music, her way of remembering her lost brother. He knew that Gevanni refused to eat seafood after he'd been poisoned by it once in Libya. He knew that Near was actually unable of cooking anything without the kitchen equipment exploding, a talent that Near had wryly remarked, that was the only explosive part of his demeanour.

He knew that Lidner's dream holiday would be exploring old castles and tombs in Central Europe, because she'd been obsessed with abandoned locations steeped in history. He knew that Gevanni's ambition as a kid had always been to run a hotel company in space. He knew that Near seemingly had no purpose in life other than to succeed L and beat his opponents.

He knew that Lidner relied on others to achieve her ends because she was afraid of extending too far and falling like her brother. He knew that Gevanni relied on only himself because others had failed him so often he no longer felt that anyone could achieve anything. He knew that Near was empty, moulded to be a tool that was used by others, moulded to be a letter on a screen, not to be a person.

But, a little voice whispered at the back of his head, Rester knew all of this about others. Really though, what did he know about himself other than he was a failure in so many ways?

(X)

It had been three months since Kira's death and the disbanding of the SPK. Anthony Rester had a lot of money now and a firm reputation amongst the police forces of the world. Anthony Carter had faded into notoriety and nonexistence. Yet, he still felt restless in a way that he hadn't felt before, amongst the SPK members.

He still stayed in contact with Halle, old souls as they both were. She too had felt a certain sense of displacement after the end of the SPK. She'd told him once, when they'd gone out for dinner, one month later, in Boston, that she was far too accustomed to running around and solving mysteries left, right and centre to even thinking about enjoying the quiet life.

Yet, as Rester had commented, nothing quite seemed as exciting or as thrilling as the Kira case had been. Rester was afraid of falling off the precipice of boredom, of that all-consuming dullness that had accompanied his previous existence.

Rester swilled his coffee down and gazed over the streets of New York. It wasn't his first choice of locations, but from New York, Rester could go all over the world easily. So many flights left the JFK airport almost every day that ester would be able to fly all over the world in less than a day if he needed to.

Suddenly, his phone started to ring. Rester answered it. The other side spoke first. "Rester, are you alone?" The voice was very familiar, the sound of a young man who still looked like a child. It was in Moroccan however, a language that Rester only really recognized cursory phrases from.

"Yes, I'm alone Near. What do you need me to do and where do you need me to go?" he asked, responding in Japanese.

"Watari is currently very old and pre-occupied with other business," Near says, his voice slightly shaky. "It means that I am currently without a proxy to take my findings to the police agencies of the world. I was wondering whether you would wish to take that position, Commander Rester."

"Of course I will." Rester replies. It's what he's been waiting for and he's hardly about to decline. "Where do you need me to go?"

"Winchester, England. There should be a plane ticket booking confirmation coming to your email in a couple of minutes. You and Bullock have kept in contact. You should probably extend an invitation to her as well." Near said, calmly. Rester could almost imagine the boy twisting his hair into knots as he spoke.

"Yes, I'll do that. Are you alright though, Near?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Yes," Near said after a while, "I'm well." The phone clicked off, without the small-talk that usually accompanied the end of the call. This was typical of Near, the clipped responses and emotionless instructions, but Rester felt somewhat cheated of an answer and was left with a distinct feeling that Near was lying.

(X)

Rester met Halle at Heathrow Terminal. She'd apparently been in Maine for a case, and had been pretty occupied, but had made time to head over to Winchester for Near.

"Why did you really come here, Halle?" asked Rester, as he tapped the steering wheel of the car. Driving on the left side of the road was still a little weird for him, but it was part of the culture here. "If you were busy, I could have dealt with it alone."

Halle pursed her lips a little and crossed her legs. "Frankly, I'm worried, Anthony. Near's not one to ask for help. I understand why he would ask for you as a proxy, especially since you're so reliable and not very pre-occupied with other business, but you said that he mentioned contacting me. Why would he do that?"

Rester frowned, that hadn't really occurred to him. "That's a little odd. I think perhaps, there's something wrong. When I asked him about his health, he took a very long time to reply."

Halle frowned. "He might be taking Mello's death badly. I mean, he was fine while we were completing the case, but that was because he had to be. Facing down L and the whole bait-and-switch deception was tiring."

Rester didn't reply, refraining from asking Halle whether she was just superimposing her opinions of Mello onto Near's predicament. Honestly, he'd never seen the point of Halle's or Near's relationship with Mello. Rester had no sympathy for the scarred teen, after the death of so many SPK members to his hand and Near hadn't seemed particularly close to the teen either, merely appreciating all that Mello had done for the case.

"Why did you come running when he called, Anthony? You had a good life in New York…didn't you? Rester is a popular name in the police forces nowadays." Halle said, brushing a bit of hair from her face.

Rester frowned. "I can't deny that it was a good life, but Halle, it was dull. Nothing was as interesting as the Kira case. I thought that feeling would fade over time, but it's merely grown in intensity. And you can never really get back that sense of danger and thrill that the Kira case created, but working with Near would be the closest thing to that."

Halle smiled faintly. "That's true. But there's something else, isn't there?"

Rester didn't reply for a moment, as he slowly turned through a roundabout with care. "It's strange… he doesn't act at all like him, but Near looks so much like my son. He's not my son obviously, my son is dead and has been for a long time, as was my daughter, but I can't help but want to help Near because it makes me feel that much closer to them. I was never close to my children in real life."

The car is silent for a moment. Rester wasn't even aware that he'd felt like this. He wasn't quite sure where this had come from, but it sure made categorizing his emotions slightly easier. Rester finally turns around to look at Halle. There are silent tears in her eyes and she squeezes his hand that's resting on the gear stick for a small moment, before she regains her ice-like composure.

"We're all just a little broken, aren't we?" she said, looking wistful. "We need to congregate before we can even come close to being what we used to be."

Rester smiled a little. "I suppose. But Halle, you can't breathe a word of this to Near. He'll probably shun me, or even worse, try to sympathise. However much like a son he may feel like to me, he still needs us to act like subordinates. If we try anything else, it's likely that he'll shatter. He's been trained like a machine, Halle, he doesn't really understand human emotion beyond the basic levels of how they affect a person's psyche."

Halle laughed. "Look at us. Don't we sound ridiculous? We're supposed to be professionals. Instead we sound like gossiping schoolgirls."

"I've never had experience with that," Rester said with a laugh.

"It's not something you ever want to experience either," Halle said, ominously, "Why do you think I joined a mainly male-dominated career field and fought to reach the top? At least here, I can escape the gossip."

Rester snorted. "Clearly, you've never spent a long time in office work. There's nothing but gossip there."

Halle throws him a skeptical look. "I really can't see you in office work."

"I worked in a very small town when we started out. Every police officer both performed active duty as well as tedious paperwork. Clearly the only way to relieve the tedium was to gossip about your fellow members and the affairs they've had or how many loans they've taken out." Rester said darkly. He remembered all too well exactly what kinds of natter the policemen undertook in when off duty.

"Sounds boring. I've always much preferred getting shot at to dealing with social occasions." Halle said offhandedly and Rester couldn't stop the laughter at that comment.

Halle too laughed. "Ridiculous, isn't it?"

"And we laugh at Near for not being good at dealing with that sort of thing," Rester said, as he drove slowly through the country roads, "At least he's honest about hating social occasions."

Halle looked a little guilty and they lapsed back into a slightly more comfortable silence.

"We're almost there," Rester said, "We reach Winchester in about five minutes, and the orphanage is actually just on the outskirts, so we should reach there a little sooner."

Halle nodded and touched up her makeup as Rester scanned the area. Say what you would about the new GPS technology, but Rester was very used to the reliability of maps and still hadn't quite gotten around to trusting the small, finicky device.

"To your left," said Halle and Rester saw the church that Near had told them to look for. He smiled at her gratefully and turned in towards the orphanage. The gates were locked and Halle had to lean out of the passenger window and tell the people that they were coming in. The doors slid open and Rester drove up to the front gates. There were two children that seemed to be pushing something large and unwieldy across the lawn. As Rester and Lidner got out of the car, they abandoned the device and ran towards them.

"You're the SPK people, right?" asked the girl with a blue hairband. She smiled toothily, not looking older than seven years old. Halle nodded and the African boy cheered.

"Yes!" the young girl said, "Once you've talked with Near, won't you tell us how the fight with Kira went? Near wouldn't say anything about it! Not even to the successors! We all want to know how Kira died!"

"Yeah," the African boy agreed, "He killed L. We want to know if he died humiliatingly! And Near won't give out any of the deets! Not even about Mello and Matt!"

Halle looked quite shocked and Rester felt the same. He'd been expecting a grim institution that pumped out robots like Near or overtly driven people like Mello. These people just looked and acted like children, however. Suddenly though, Halle smiled and it looked very friendly and very calm. She knelt down and gripped the young girl's hand.

"I don't see why it could hurt. You have to promise to not tell anyone, though." Halle said. Her voice wasn't condescending, which Rester could only thank. Near had given Halle a very icy look when Near had first met the SPK after she'd attempted to treat him like a child. Presumably, it seemed that she'd learnt to not underestimate these children.

The children cheered again and ran off. "Come on, Near will be waiting," Rester said, letting only a hint of his smile touch his face. It was what he had trained for so long to do after all.

They walked into the main hall of the orphanage and looked around. It was practically deserted, despite the time of day. There was also no indication of where they needed to go.

"Any ideas, Halle?" he asked, having a look around the warm, wood-panelled house.

"None. All of these doors look the same." Halle said, as she quickly opened one of the doors to reveal a closet.

Rester suddenly spotted a flash of white out of the corner of his eyes and turned around to see Near slowly shuffling out of one of the side corridors. He looked more tired than when Rester had last seen him and there seemed no indication that there had ever been emotions on his face.

"Good afternoon Commander Rester, Agent Bullock." said Near, his voice in an almost monotone. "If you'll come this way, I'll show you the equipment. It's quite portable, so the two of you ought to be able to take it where you want to go. Back to America if you wish, you can partake in helping me beside your daily jobs."

"What daily jobs?" asked Halle, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Halle's right, we didn't have daily jobs. We were waiting for this to happen." Rester said.

Near nodded. "Well then, I thank you for anticipating this request. It's just over here, you should have an easy time taking it in that car parked outside."

"Wait." Halle said, suddenly, "What about you, Near? You said that we could take it to America. Does that mean that you'll be staying here?"

"No, I've already put my successors in enough danger by being here." Near said, looking slightly regretful.

"Danger?" asked Halle, looking incredulous. Rester felt the same way, what kind of danger could they be faced with?

"Three of them were almost killed about four days ago, by some assassins. I can only be grateful that they were my top candidates for successors and were able to defend themselves, or else they would have died." Near said, shortly.

"Then, where are you going, Near?" asked Rester.

Near looked rather annoyed by the questioning. "Scotland. Watari used to own a property up there. It's currently empty, so I shall be staying there."

"Wait, empty? But how will you survive? Do you even know how to cook, clean and drive?" asked Halle, looking incredulous.

Near looked more than slightly annoyed, by the visible furrow in his brow. Usually, the only way to tell what his emotions were, was to see what his hands were doing. "I can clean. It's not a difficult process. Merely tedious. And I'm nineteen, I do have a driving license." There was something unspoken there, that was asking Halle whether she was his mother to be acting in such a manner, but Rester ignored it for the rather more pressing issue.

"However Near, I call your cooking skills into play here. Exactly how are you going to manage without food? As I recall, you set our kitchen on fire the last time you tried to cook." Rester sternly admonished.

Near looked away and started to twirl his hair, a clear sign that he was trying to not snap at them. "I can manage to keep myself alive. It is not such a difficult task."

"Near, don't be so stubborn. We'll come with you to Scotland. There is no need for you to separate yourself from us. Your successors were put in danger, and that's a sad thing, that truly is, considering that they're just children. But this is our job, Near. Let us help you, even if only for the trivial things." Halle begged, looking somewhat stricken. Near was also looking a little panicked, about the emotion in Halle's tone.

Rester placed a hand on Near's shoulder and the young boy tensed under his touch, but Rester didn't let go. "Halle's right, Near. We're your subordinates; we're supposed to make your life easier. Let us help you."

Near was quiet for a few minutes and Rester could almost feel the clogs turning in his mind. Finally, he looked up, and there was a definite smile on his face. "Thank you, Commander Rester. Let me show you how the equipment works."

Near broke away from his grasp and shuffled down the corridor he'd came from. Rester exchanged glances with Halle who could only smile. They followed him down the corridor, as they would do for the rest of their lives.


	15. Taikutsu

**Taikutsu**

**AN: In honour of the death of a genius….**

**Here's Light as a shinigami for his deathday. It's been done, but I think I have a slightly new plan of action for him. Heck, Light's an optimist! And he's the ruler of a new world! He never specified which world….**

20 seconds to go….He didn't want to die…He was god! He was the god of this new world! He didn't want to—

(X)

The moment that Light opened his eyes and saw the world around him, he knew that Ryuk had lied about the afterlife. He felt like screaming, but Light knew that that would be a waste of energy and time. He picked himself up off the ground and looked around him. The world around him was desolate and tinged an almost orange colour.

Light looked down at his hands. Normal and unstained by blood. He looked down at himself and frowned a little. He was wearing his school shirt and the green jumper that Sayu had bought him for his 16th birthday. He also wore his usual fitted trousers, though he was lacking shoes and socks. He placed a hand to his face. No blood. In fact, there weren't even any scars, like the ones he had gained from constantly fighting with L. Actually, every part of him was smaller and younger. Light presumed that it was his body before he'd picked up the Death Note, if he was wearing this green jumper. He looked up and around him.

To the distant east seemed to be a lot of caves and rock formations. To the south were large black shapes sticking out of the ground, covered in what seemed to be metal from their glint. The rest of the area was desolate and covered in sand. Light himself was on the top of a large, reddish, rock plateau. He thumped the ground. It felt firmly solid underneath him.

"Ryuk…?" Light asked, looking around for his near constant companion for the past six years.

"I'm impressed. Your first word in a new world and it's my name. I'm very honoured." came a voice from above him and Light looked up. Ryuk landed on the ground with a thump and grinned at Light, munching on a juicy red apple.

"You lied." Light said, calmly. It seemed obvious in death, that shouting would do nothing. He was in a foreign world and Ryuk was his only guide. Angering his guide this early in the new game would be foolhardy.

"I did. Well, not exactly. Every human when they die, go to Mu. But if a user of the Death Note is killed by the Death Note, they end up here."

"Here, being the shinigami realm?" asked Light, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's right." Ryuk said, chuckling.

"So that's how shinigami are born. Curious. Tell me though, will I run into Higuchi and Takada here?" asked Light, as a terrible thought occurred to him. After all, they'd been users of the Death Note and he had killed them both with the Death Note….

"Yes." Ryuk said, chuckling madly.

Light frowned. "By that laugh, you're omitting some information. Tell me what I'm missing."

Ryuk laughed even further, almost coughing and Light sighed a little. No apples to bribe the shinigami with…it looked like he would have to wait until the shinigami calmed down.

"They're missing their memories," Ryuk said, smirking a little. "You're very lucky in that I managed to persuade the shinigami king to not wipe your memories. They can't remember a thing about the human realm."

Light nodded, that was good news for him. If either Takada or Higuchi had been able to remember him, that would have been terrible. The last thing he needed were revenge-filled shinigami with Death notes after hi—Death Note.

"Ryuk, if I'm a shinigami now, do I get a Death Note automatically?" Light asked, pressing a finger to his face.

"Nope. You have to kill someone more powerful than you in some way before you can get a notebook from the Old Man." Ryuk said, quite nonchalantly.

"Old Man?" asked Light, a plan already formulating in his head.

"The shinigami King. He's a pain to deal with, though. If he likes you, he'll make you play a game with him before giving you a Death Note." Ryuk said, rolling his eyes. Light was pretty sure that Ryuk hadn't done that before. Clearly, he'd been picking up mannerisms from Matsuda.

"So, does he make Death Notes, or does he have a ready supply of Death Notes to give to shinigami?' asked Light, as he leant back.

Ryuk shrugged as he finished the apple core. "Haven't a clue."

Light suppressed his growl. Typical. Was Ryuk just permanently useless? "Is there anyone who would know?" asked Light, forcing a smile that felt more like a grimace unto his face.

"Sure. Armonia Justin is the second ranked shinigami and he actually cares about rules and the like. He might help you." Ryuk said.

"Might." Light stated and Ryuk shrugged.

"Well, I don't claim to know his mind." he said and Light sighed.

"I just can't count on you, can I?"

"Nope." Ryuk said, smirking, "I persuaded the king to let you keep your memories because I would be bored otherwise. If I just told you everything, it would get boring."

Well, at least, Ryuk didn't change. Still, it brought up the interesting question of whether Ryuk had ever been human. By his appearance, it certainly didn't seem to be the case.

"Come on then, Ryuk, take me to this Armonia Justin person." Light said, looking bored, "Where does he live, anyway?"

Ryuk merely pointed towards the south and Light sighed. "How do we get there? It's not like this rock has handholds so I can climb down."

Ryuk chuckled and outstretched his wings. "Just fly, idiot." Ryuk launched off the rock and Light scowled.

"Just fly? I DON'T HAVE WINGS!" Light yelled back at Ryuk. He could hear Ryuk's laughter as he flew off into the distance. Just to check, Light stretched behind him and groped at his back. No sign of wings. Nope, Ryuk was just being facetious. But, what reason would Ryuk have to lie to him? That was stupid, obviously entertainment. Ryuk would find it entertaining to watch Light flail.

Still….he was already dead. Couldn't hurt. All birds instinctively knew how to fly, even if they couldn't tell they had wings. And Light had always wanted to be able to fly. To be as free as a bird, with no obligations and the power to stand on his own two feet, yet still be able to survey the world around him…It appealed to him a lot.

Light gazed down off the edge of the rock plateau. It was a long drop. It gave him more time to figure this whole flying thing out. Light took in a deep breath and threw himself off the edge.

Light didn't scream, that was undignified, but merely willed his wings to open as the ground zoomed closer and clos—

Light breathed a sigh of relief as he started gliding forwards instead of falling. He looked behind him and saw a pair of silvery-grey tendon-like wings extended out of his back, as if they'd always been there. Light shook his head and followed the black speck in the distance. Once he felt more comfortable with the feeling of soaring, Light willed himself to be faster so that he could catch up with Ryuk.

Feeling the wind across his face and the sheer freedom, Light let out a whoop of excitement as he twisted mid-air. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. He might have been dead, but he was in a new world. A world, that according to Ryuk was filled with lazy ingrates who had no idea of their purpose…. Well, Light planned to change that fairly soon. It would be more difficult without the media to help him spread his name, but he was sure that overthrowing the shinigami king would be more than enough than to get him recognized.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?' asked Ryuk, looking amused as Light caught up to him.

"Of course. How many humans have spent their entire lives dreaming of this of this sensation? And yet, I am the first to achieve this state. Why wouldn't I be happy?" Light explained.

"You aren't human anymore, though, Light." Ryuk said, letting one of his eyebrows rise. "To be honest, you've never acted much like a human. More like a shinigami from the first. That's why I stuck around."

Light rolled his eyes. "Why do I care about that? It matters more about what I think, than what I'm technically classified as. And I've always felt human."

"The ultimate optimist, aren't you? Even after you failed? You are very interesting, Light." Ryuk commented, as they neared the metal structures.

"Of course I am. I told you, I couldn't have even imagined a new world free of crime and bad people without being an optimist. And I didn't lose. I retreated and am trying a new technique to achieve what I need to. The moment I get a Death Note, don't think I'm going to become like the rest of the people here. I plan to upheave this world. Will you help me?" Light said, coldly.

"I'll help for as long as it interests me." Ryuk said and Light smirked.

"That's fine by me." If Light had his way, he wouldn't need the wayward and frankly, unreliable shinigami for much longer.

"Here we are." Ryuk said, as he descended downwards towards a large area filled with chains and other rusty metal remnants of a civilization. It only served as making Light wonder about what the shinigami world had previously been. And there, in the corner, hiding underneath the shade of a large looming metal piece was the shinigami.

He lounged in his throne, his body made entirely of precious metal and jewels. There was what looked like a white notebook next to him and he looked bored.

"So Ryuk, we have a new shinigami. Shouldn't you be taking him to the King so he can get his notebook?" asked the shinigami. His voice sounded as brittle and cold as the jewels he was made of.

"Actually, I requested the detour. What can you tell me about the Shinigami King's powers and abilities?" Light said, turning on the charm as he always did.

The shinigami's eyes glinted. "And why should I help you..?"

"Kira. My name is Kira. And I have been told that you know everything about the rules of this world and about everybody in the realm. And I wish to change the hopelessness that has pervaded the shinigami realm for so long. I changed my world, I intend to give the shinigami their purpose back." Light said, standing straighter and gesturing boldly as he had not been able to before. Kira was feared, loathed and revered in the human realm. Here, Light intended there to only be one of those connotations associated with his name.

"From the seat of the Shinigami king? You intend to kill him to gain your notebook." said Armonia Justin.

"Yes, that is correct. I will not ask for your help in defeating him, merely for the information that will help me kill him." said Light. "Please."

"Give me something." Armonia said, "Something valuable to you. And then I will be your ally in your venture, in every way."

Light blinked. Something valuable to him…his wits? No, that was something he would never give away. Why had it even crossed his mind as a possibility? Without his wits and his smarts, he was nothing. "I have nothing. Nothing that I can give away so easily, in any case."

"But you do. Those wings of yours, they are not valuable to you?" asked Ryuk, smirking, as he leant back against one of the chains, chomping on what looked like a rotten and mouldy apple.

Light sneered at him before sighing. He did need that Armonia Justin's help….Light shut his eyes tightly. Was he willing to give up that sheer happiness of flight for a new shinigami world with purpose?

He'd done it before. He'd given up his life, his soul, his heart and his mind to the cause of Kira. And he was going to do it again, he already knew that. His happiness in trade for a new world. Would he do that for all eternity? May this attempt to reach godhood end happier.

"Very well, Armonia Justin. Take my wings and in return, you will tell me everything that I ask for." Light said, opening his eyes, again.

The bejeweled shinigami looked surprised. "You're dedicated to this aren't you? You have no hope of beating the shinigami King. He's been here forever. He supports this entire world. When he dies, so does this whole realm."

Light growled. "It is not your place to worry about that! I am the one who shall kill him. You just take my wings, then tell me what I need to know!"

Armonia nodded. "Come forward then. Let me remove those pretty little things…"

(X)

Light breathed deeply as he stood outside the black cave. It was darker than the rest of the realm and Light could hear water dripping inside.

"This as far as you'll come with me, Ryuk?" asked Light, as he circled his fingers around his wrist. There was no longer the scar tissue from where he had been chained to L, but it still had a twinge of phantom pain.

"Sure, come back out when you're king." said Ryuk, pretending to yawn.

Light rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

With that, he walked into the cave. Light looked up as Armonia had told him to and kept his face schooled into bored nonchalance. But, what a sight! What he could see of the King, was already triple the size of Ryuk! But size was nothing. No, what mattered, was Light's speed and his brains. If he kept his wits about him, he'd be fine.

"You're the shinigami king?" asked Light.

"That is correct. You are the former human Light Yagami?" asked the deep voice.

"Also correct." Light said, sternly.

"You have…come to kill me?" asked the shinigami King. "It is not the first time that someone has tried to do that. I'm afraid that you will not succeed."

"I have no intention of killing you. The only way that a shinigami can kill is with their Death Note; this, Ryuk told me a long time ago. If I kill you with my hands now, I weaken myself later, instead of dying instantly like other shinigami that already have Death Notes. No, I have no intention of killing you." Light said, taking a seat on the cold hard floor. "I've heard that you like a good game. So do I, and it's been a while since I've played a good one. It'll pass the time in any case."

The King paused. "So you have talked with Armonia Justin."

"Yes." Light said, "I wanted to know if the rules were different for shinigami using the Death note and humans using the Death Note, and Ryuk was useless on that aspect."

"You are lying. A very well said lie, but a lie nonetheless." uttered the shinigami king and Light sighed.

"You will not play? It will be a boring few hundred years, then." Light said, looking nonchalant and somewhat depressed.

"A few hundred years? You really are a very confident human, Light Yagami. How do you know that I won't just kill you?"

Light examined his fingernails, feeling a little bored. "You can't kill me with your Death Note because I'm a shinigami, not a human, and shinigami can't die with their names in the notebook. And you can't kill me with your own hands, a rule that you yourself set in place. If you break it, the shinigami realm will collapse."

"You are very bright, aren't you? Very well Yagami, let's play a game. I think, a game of succession would do. An older one. Seiryuu Gazamo vs Thierry Morello for the title of Best Con Artist. You shall play as Thierry. Prepare yourself."

"Wait, what?" asked Light before he was plunged into the suffocating white light…

(X)

The first thing that Light thought about, as he drifted through the unconscious stream, was that the name Thierry Morrello was the conman Aiber's real name. Light had killed him. That was confusing and a glaring problem, because if Morrello was dead, how was he playing a game with him…?

And what the hell was 'succession' anyway? How the hell did you even begin to try and define what the hell was going o-

Suddenly, Light felt a jerk on his spiritual self. It was like a shackle adjusting to his back and Light gasped at the sheer pain of the shackle's weight. Suddenly, it all disappeared, and Light was left suspended in the unconscious stream, the only sign that anything had happened, a silver chord that extended from Light's back downwards. Light tugged at it, warily. Nothing happened, so Light followed the cord downwards, against the current of the white fog until he reached a very familiar blonde human. The cord disappeared above Aiber's head.

Aiber currently appeared to be talking with an attractive brunette who was wearing a very skimpy dress. Light reiterated that fact, Aiber was flirting with her and very subtly, scoping for information. He could see that she slowly, slowly seemed to be giving Aiber information about the company that she worked for, despite her initial distrust of this younger Aiber.

He was good. Almost better than Light at twisting with her emotions. The moment that he finished, he walked away from her towards the bathroom. Much to Light's annoyance, he was forced to follow because of the stupid bond. The moment that Aiber reached the bathroom, Light tried to talk to him.

"Hello?" Light said. Aiber did nothing, just adjusted his hair and started scribbling on his notebook. Light peered at the notebook, but it only seemed to be the information that he had gathered. "There's no one here, you know. You can respond to me."

Aiber ignored him and Light punched him. His hand went straight through Aiber. Aiber didn't even react. Brilliant. He was stuck with someone who didn't even know he was here. What was he even doing here? A game of succession indeed, what the hell did that mean?

Still, if Light was stuck to Aiber, then the shinigami King would be stuck with the other man, Seiryuu Gazamo, Aiber's rival for the title of con-artist? That made slightly more sense. So what was he supposed to do. Then it hit him. Aiber was in the middle of that contest. Light's job was to help Aiber win. The problem, was figuring out how to do that.

How do you help someone who can't see you or even sense you? Light sighed and tugged at the cord. "This is so stupid."

Then he blinked as Aiber mimicked his posture and parroted his words. Then Aiber stopped, looked fairly confused and went back to write. Light grinned. He wouldn't test this now, but he had to do it later. This…was going to be very funny.

x

"I'm an idiot." Aiber mumbled as he slapped himself in his sleep. Light unwound himself from the white wire he had wrapped around himself. Once the connecting wire was tied around Light's chest, whatever Light did, Aiber mimicked. This…this was so much fun! Light hadn't particularly interacted with the cocky conman, but from what interactions Light had had with the man, he'd severely disliked Aiber.

Of course, the testing time had to be when Aiber wasn't awake and to Light's delight, he could make Aiber do anything, even when Aiber was sleeping. This would be useful. He could make Aiber say anything and do whatever Light was doing. And all he had to do to hand the power back to Aiber was to duck out of the wire loop.

Suddenly, Aiber's phone rang and the man woke up, cutting Light's experimentation short. Light frowned and listened in. He blinked just a little at the japanese voice introducing himself as Gazamo Seiryuu. That was easy. A contest to see who could pull off the best con to the world. Aiber seemed reluctant but once Gazamo made a subtle threat, Aiber agreed, rolling his eyes. Gazamo ended with a statement about plane tickets and seeing Aiber in Paris in eight hours. They were currently in the West Indies.

"Well, shit. I'm screwed." Aiber said, sighing, as he started to pack. Light had to agree.

x

The challenge was given to Aiber in an art gallery, where the two of them sat and pretended to not know who the other was. Whomever who get the most money from the most amount of people without drawing undue attention to themselves won. Of course, Light knew that here and Aiber had a disadvantage. The Shinigami king was the driving force behind Gazamo and the King knew how the original timeline went. Light didn't.

That…was a problem. Did Aiber originally win? Light assumed that Aiber hadn't originally won, why would the Shinigami King let him have the side of the victor? Light would have to fight to win. Light had always wondered how L had even come in contact with known criminals and trusted them enough to show his face to them. Light wondered whether this was where Aiber had met L. Light regretted not being able to search through Aiber's memories, but Light could only take over his actions.

Still, Light knew that Gazamo's statement had said to not draw attention to the other, so…Aiber had to wait till Gazamo had managed to con a significant amount of people and then report it to L. Of course, Aiber also had to con a few people in the process to not make the plan look too obvious, so Aiber would have to plead immunity before saying anything. Also…Light had to find a way to get Aiber on L's team. Therefore, Aiber's action would need to be one of Light's typical, five-steps-ahead plans. Light had the advantage when sparring with L and planned to take advantage of his knowledge of L's character. A challenge left for the police, a cryptic message, akin to that of the Zodiac Murderer .

Light quickly planned ahead. He'd send the cryptic message now, arrange to chat with L in three days, con a few people inbetween those times, leaving most of the work to Aiber himself. Then, he'd get in contact with Gazamo every day with a tally count, sounding more and more smug every day. He'd have to make Gazamo angry enough that the Shinigami king couldn't control his actions as easily. He'd noticed that it had been difficult to control Aiber when the two con-artists had met in the art gallery, where Aiber had been positively furious.

Light smirked. He knew that there would be an advantage to his games with L and with that pathetic excuse for a successor, Near.

(X)

"You won. How surprising, little human. It's very impressive. I didn't expect it of you." said the shinigami king, as Light gasped and struggled to not throw up as he adjusted to being back in the shinigami realm. The white cord, that connected him with Aiber, had disappeared and it felt like it had ripped away his stomach with it, which was ridiculous, because his skin was still intact.

"I told you before; I'm not a human, even if I look like it!" Light snapped, as he straightened. His stomach still twinged, but he wasn't going to let that ruin his plans. His happiness in exchange for the world. It was what he'd pledged. He wasn't backing out now. "I'm a shinigami. In any case, that was certainly interesting. How about another game?"

The King looked almost tormented from what Light could see of his face. "Why not?" he said and Light smirked. He had him.

(X)

Game after game was played and Light felt the time ebb and pass away. Light made sure to balance his losses and wins. He wanted to put the shinigami King at ease, make them seem equal gameplayers, despite the truth of Light having seen a plan to win every single battle that had been thrown at him.

He'd played as so many people in the little games of succession, mainly people he'd known in life. Deneuve vs Eraldo Coil vs L, Wedy vs Mafia even Soichiro Yagami vs Lapland Glacier. The ways of controlling them were simple, easy and Light slowly was starting to lose the pain associated with leaving the game.

But most importantly, Light was starting to understand the shinigami King and that was key to what he was planning. The King…was addicted to the game. It was obvious in the way he played. The King wished to extend his time in the game, which was shown by his long often overtly complicated plans, even more complex and excruciatingly well-planned than Light's own gambits.

But honestly, Light thought that the shinigami King played with a naïveté, that wasn't warranted from such an old ruler. He played as if time was on his side (_when anything could crumble around his shoulders at any point_), he played like players weren't expendable (_which they always are; even the King is expendable at the end of chess_), placing such trust and hope upon individuals other than himself (_when other individuals were fickle and faithless_). He played with trust in the fact that his opponent was honourable (_fat chance_) and overall, he played like a child. He played the games with the outlook of a child and the simple faith of a child.

And Light would be sure to make that the King's downfall, because ruling was an adult's world. It would be a mercy for all involved. Ruling was no business for a child. Better the peaceful oblivion of death than the strenuous process of ruling truly and the burden that that placed upon the shoulders of a child.

(X)

After what seemed to be their twentieth game, Light frowned and made sure to look weary. "I'm tired of playing like this."

"What do you mean?" asked the shinigami King.

"Well, games without stakes are so dull. What's the point of playing if there isn't a purpose behind it? What's the point of playing if losing is nothing? Losing is bad. We should make losing bad!" Light said, and he almost hated himself for sounding like a child. He was no child. He had lost the ability to be a child a long, long time ago.

"What stakes do you propose?" asked the King. He sounded disapproving, but curious. Light smirked.

"The winner picks the next game and the loser gives up two of their players in the next game." Light said. It was small fry now…but the stakes would increase. Light would make sure of that.

The King nodded and Light couldn't stop the smirk spreading onto his face. Hook, line and sinker. Like stealing candy from a child…oh wait, isn't that exactly what he was doing?

(X)

Slowly, but surely, the stakes rose. Every round, the game became more and more frantic and Light made sure to lose and win equally once more, though to increase his winning rate a little more. His final win had to seem plausible. First losing things inside the game but slowly but surely, Light had bet his shinigami eyes and his hair and his clothing and he had won them by a thread. Now, now….for the final game.

"How about one final game?" Light said, as he stood rather shakily.

"The stakes?" asked the King.

"Our lives. If I die, you can take my life. If you die, you must take your own life and give me the reign of this kingdom." said Light. "It is the only way to guarantee that this last game will actually be interesting."

The King looked at Light and Light felt like he was being scanned by an X-ray. "You are transparent in your means and method of killing me, and you truly are despicable. But I agree to your stakes. I have no desire to even look upon someone who still wishes to kill me; after all of these games we have played."

The King said all of this, but Light could see through him. The addiction of the game would never leave the King's system. He would always want to play and continue to play no matter what.

"The game is of succession. Near vs Mello for the title of L." said the Shinigami King.

"Wait, what?" Light asked, before the white light blinded him again.

(X)

Light had played over 100 of these games, acting as the puppet-master, pulling at the strings of his puppets but this…this was entirely different, entirely new, much to his consternation. Part of him drifted through the white fog that pushed at his very soul and the other half of him was inside the body of Mihael Keehl. He was still a puppeteer, pulling at the strings of a marionette that was the child, Mihael Keehl, better known as Mello.

But, it wasn't that simple. When was it ever simple? He hadn't just displaced the soul of Mihael Keehl like he had with Aiber, Wedy, Deneuve and countless others. Keehl was still around and when he disliked some actions of Light's, he would tug back at the strings, and usually, the younger boy's spirit won, much to Light's annoyance. Maybe the key was to knowing the boy better?

…Well, it was certainly not a surprise to Light that the boy had joined the mafia as a teenager. It ran in the family. His parents, from what Light had managed to glean with listening in at locked doors, was the head of the German Mafia. Light's German was perfect of course, but it was useful being able to filter the slang words through Keehl's mind. They seemed to be drug-runners and ran animal trafficking operations, but Keehl seemed clueless to this.

Keehl was kept away from his parents most of the day, looked after by a grumpy middle-aged woman who was pretty tough on him, but there was no doubt, that for those small moments of the day when he got to see them, that they loved him very much, judging by the presents they showered upon the child. And then, the unthinkable happened for Mihael, a week after Light had attached himself to the child. His parents shoved him into a small room, with a gun and a rosary and told him to not come out unless they called to him.

Mihael was for the first time since Light had met him, terrified and Light had to fight to keep the boy's brain calm and almost put him to sleep when the sounds of screaming and gunshots were heard from the room outside.

It was three hours later that Mihael's little room was disturbed by a policewoman coming into the room. Mihael pointed the gun at her. Light tried to get him to drop it, but Mihael's mind was set and seemed to ignore his orders. Luckily, the policewoman seemed to know how to deal with frightened children and Mihael finally put the gun down. They took the boy to the police station and they told him that he was one of the only survivors of a shoot-out between two intersecting crime groups. At first, Mihael had refused to believe that his parents were criminals and now currently in jail, but when Light pointed out all of the evidence in his brain, the boy finally accepted.

And when the man in a black leather coat came to take Mihael away to become Mello, neither of the inhabitants of the blonde body protested. Light knew that the real battle began here, at the House. Light had no need to instill the need to do the best in Mello, who already felt that urge. Instead, Light struggled with Mello's antisocial tendencies. People were important in your goal to getting to the top.

Light knew this well and the moment he'd spotted a boy wearing bright blue goggles and a striped shirt, lounging around in the classroom on their first day, Light remembered his original lifespan. An aide to Mello's kidnapping of Takada had worn a striped shirt nearly identical to this and had the same hair colour. This was one of Mello's friends from the previous time-line.

"My name is Mello." Light forced Mello to say, "What about you?"

"The name's Matt," said the boy, not looking up from where he was almost napping on his desk. "First place. Don't talk to me, I don't speak with lower life-forms unless necessary."

Light had merely lifted an eyebrow and taken a seat away from him, keeping quiet the whole while. Mello had wanted nothing more than to punch Matt, and it had taken all of Light's control to stop Mello from doing just that, despite firmly agreeing with the sentiment. Bastard. Even if Light had thought that fact about his classmates so many times in his old life, you didn't say things like that to their face. Of course, here, all that seemed to matter was what you were ranked. No wonder Mello wanted to be the best.

The next week, when Mello had reached number one in the rankings, Light sidled up to Matt, who was gaping at the sheet of paper in shock. "The name's Mello. First place. You can talk to me if you like; I don't mind speaking with lower life-forms."

Matt sputtered a bit before laughing and extending his hand out, scratching his head a little. "I was a bit of an idiot, wasn't I? Can't we start over?"

When Light took his hand, another snaking white thread reached out towards Matt and connected immediately. Immediately Light had the same connection with Matt as he did with Mello.

"Well shit. This is going to get complicated." Light said, staring at the two minds that he could now read and manipulate in his head.

x

By the end of the year, using Mello's angelic looks and his own charisma, Light had most of the orphanage under mind control. But Light knew that this was all temporary up until Near and the Shinigami king arrived. There was no doubt that the shinigami King was going to be playing for keeps and would most likely turn some people away from his mind control. Light just had to make sure that they were the unimportant ones.

And so, that day came, unsurprisingly, on Mello's birthday, that a small boy with white hair arrived in their classroom. Light could feel himself swell up with hate upon seeing the boy who had caused his reign as the god over that new world to crumble, but to his surprise, Mello too seemed to instantly hate the boy. Light wasn't sure why, but wondered whether Mello could actually feel his emotions and thoughts the way that Light could feel Mello's. Light sincerely hoped that their relationship wasn't symbiotic. That would have been a pain.

Mello wanted nothing more than to avoid the boy and go beat something up, but Light had gotten better at knowing what Mello would acquiesce to and Light managed to twist Mello's body up after class and go to Near.

"Hello, I'm called Mello. What's your name?" Light said, being polite, and forcing a sunny smile onto his face.

"Near." The boy said reticently before turning away and shuffling down the corridor.

"Will you eat lunch with Matt and I today, Near?" called Light, down the corridor. Near turned around, looking quietly perturbed. Light this time, smiled sincerely. "We always ask new people to eat with us on the first day. It's your choice what you do after that, but we like to get to know what new people are like. Please?"

Near's hands had gone to his hair and started twirling, much to Light's annoyance, but he started to shuffle back towards Mello. "Yes. I will."

And to Light's surprise, Near put his hand through Mello's. Mello seemed equally surprised, but unlike Light, seemed able to cope with it easily and rolled his eyes. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Six." said Near as they walked into the hall and Mello laughed.

"No wonder you're so titchy. Cook will want to feed you up, in any rate, so we'd better save her the trouble."

Light felt an eyebrow rise but sat back and let Mello do the talking. Mello's feelings were still interspersed with annoyance, but any hate had gone away at Near. Light wasn't able to as easily let his feelings go, so it was better that Mello put on that front. At least Mello had managed to master some parts of Sun Tzu. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, indeed.

x

To Light's surprise, Near, Mello and Matt were close friends through the next few years. From what Mogi and Aizawa had gathered from the orphanage when they'd been there to gather information, they'd been the worst enemies and often they had huge fights and debates between each other, both trying to beat the other to the top. There'd never been any violence, but it had been close sometimes.

The contrast between the two times was plain to see. And what was surprising, was that Near…was second. Mello and Light combined were soundly better than everyone else in the orphanage. It was strange, and any of Mello's hatred towards Near was gone now that he was top and reaching to be the best. To be L.

It was strange too, Light was sort of starting to like Near. The boy had a quiet humour and a sharp wit that matched Light's own, a humour that didn't seem to come from the shinigami King. And there was no mistaking the fact that Near was much less closed off in this world. Near seemed to be more open and more free with his actions compared to what Light had seen from his opponent's actions previously. Which made Light curious. Being closed off would serve the shinigami King well. Why was he letting Near be open with Mello?

…Unless the shinigami king couldn't control Near. If the shinigami king was having the same bond that Light had with Mello, this almost symbiotic control over the body…it was possible that Near was stronger than the shinigami King. Still, that was rather unlikely. The shinigami King must have played ten times the amount of games that Light had, and even if he was a child, you didn't go that long without being able to master the people in the game.

No, Light couldn't let his guard down, not now of all times. It was a game and this was one of the Shinigami king's ploys. He had to make sure that Mello didn't get too attached to Near, because Mello was fiercely emotional, despite Light's best attempts to quell that aspect of the blonde boy and Light dreaded what would happen to his main body if the shinigami King managed to get Near to betray Mello.

x

It was late at night when Mello was fourteen and unable to sleep. This would be about the time that the Kira case would start and another Light Yagami come million miles away would pick up a black notebook and change the world for the better. For the better, right?

Che, he hated doubting himself, which he'd been doing more and more lately. Being stuck in the game for this long annoyed him. All of the other games had been short, a few days to a month. Light had been stuck with Mello for nearing six years now. It had been interesting, no doubt, especially in a house for genii, but Light was so tired of waiting. He needed L to die so that he could succeed him and win the game.

Light was tensed and for some reason, the blonde boy had managed to pick up on it. Annoyingly. Sometimes, Light wondered what would happen to this world once the game was over. Did it blink away from existence because the events had changed or did it continue to live on, separate from the actual universe?

Light knew of the alternate universe theory, but he'd always been a little skeptical until he'd started playing these games. It would be a shame if these people he'd grown to like quite a lot in comparison to the people that he'd hated in the old world, just disappeared. Mello had finally gotten fed up of his musing it seemed, and was walking to the kitchen for chocolate. Nothing new.

What was new however, was the fact that a messy black-haired man was stealing cake from the sweet fridge.

"Who are you?" Mello asked but Light said nothing as he looked upon the face of his rival. Here he was. All Light needed to do was kill him. Make him dead, to end this stupid game so Light could rule the shinigami realm. There were cameras around, but wasn't that what Matt was for? Then…why was he hesitating?

"My name is Dominic." L said and Light took over Mello and gave him a flat glare.

"Please stop lying. It's unsightly and irritating, especially since it's so transparent. You can only be L." Light said, as he reached for some chocolate from the fridge.

"Why would you ask a question that you already knew the answer to?" asked L, as he perched on a kitchen chair and licked his sundae.

"To see how you would answer. Your first reaction was to lie, which means that you're here on a stealth mission or that you really don't think much about our abilities. Any idiot could tell that Mr. Wammy and Roger wouldn't just let a random man into the House without telling anyone and burglars don't steal food from the fridge in such a conspicuous manner, however hungry they are." Light deduced easily, as he took the opposite seat next to L and let Mello deal with the actions of actually eating the chocolate. He couldn't kill his rival. Not yet, anyway. The Light Yagami on the other side of the world would do that for him.

He remembered the little meeting they'd had earlier that week, that farce of a conversation with L as he answered the questions of the children and revealed absolutely nothing about himself, despite answering with nothing but the truth. Light hadn't felt any need to ask questions about L when he knew the man almost better than he knew himself and Mello had been busy watching the other children's reactions and L's hidden meanings to really care about actually asking a question.

"You're very perceptive, Mello." said L, as he licked the spoon.

Light rolled his eyes again. "It's not being perceptive, it's called not being an idiot."

L chuckled and Mello's urge to smirk beat down Light's façade of stoicness. "So then Mello, why are you awake so late at night? Surely you have some tests tomorrow?"

Light gave L a gimlet stare. The tone was monotonous but the wording was so patronizing. L didn't seem to think much of his successors. In fact, there seemed to be a little bit of disdain hidden amongst the tightly wrapped layers of nonchalance. "I couldn't sleep." Light answered.

L tilted his head sideways. "Any particular reason?" he asked. There was no interest in his tone, it was obvious he was just asking it to be polite as he had often done with Light when they'd been working on the Yotsuba case.

Still, Light answered as Mello would. "It's stupid, really…but, it feels like something's awakening, you know? That something big is gonna happen soon. It felt like this before the Lapland Glacier murders and before the Twin Towers fell. I can't help but think that something's going to happen that's going to change the world, soon, and…I don't know whether it will be for the better or for the worse."

L had stopped eating his cake halfway through Light's confession and had pressed a thumb to his lips. "That is certainly interesting, Mello. You've felt this before then? How many times?"

Light shrugged. "Umm, well the two times I mentioned, but there were another ten times or so, but I couldn't find anything on the news or in any sort of media that would warrant the feeling. I even asked Matt to help me hack some databases, but I couldn't figure out what had triggered it, you know?"

"No, I don't know." L said, as he resumed eating, a glint in his eyes that signaled that he was very, very interested in the individual in front of him. Light knew this expression well and had to hide his smirk. Finally, he was treating Mello as something akin to an equal. "But it is likely that these incidents that you speak of were hidden from the public because they were too sensitive to reach the general public. It may not have even related to crime."

Light nodded and lapsed back into silence. He had nothing else to say, so he just watched L. He missed the debates they'd had, but he was sure that even L would get suspicious if his successor, that he seemed to dislike quite a bit, just randomly instigated some sort of debate. Mello finished the chocolate and played with his rosary, which Mello had never let leave his figure since his parents' imprisonment.

"What do you do in your spare time, Mello?" asked L, looking as equally awkward as Mello felt.

"Study. Do homework. Usually, Matt and I drag Near away from his puzzles and go into town to solve the Winchester Police's problems for them. Keep myself fit." Light answered shortly, shrugging. His wording was very deliberate. L knew that Mello was trying to get his position by studying, that he was already doing detective work and that he was friends with the two people below him in the rankings. It was probably information that L already knew, but L liked to analyse people by the way they disclosed information and Light intended to try and win L over to his side rather than that of the shinigami King.

"You shouldn't let the police here get dependent on you. Who knows what will happen once I die and you have to take over for me?" L teased, as he licked his spoon again.

Mello's fist clenched and Light managed to stop him from standing up in his anger but couldn't stop the expression of anger. "Don't say that! You're not allowed to die yet!" Mello barked.

L looked rather taken aback. "Is that not your entire purpose here?"

Mello crossed his arms and looked away from L. "Look, you're a legend here, okay? You've done so much for the world. Everyone wants to be you, but frankly, I don't. I want to work with you and help you reach your goals or be a detective in my own right. Replacing you…is not on my list of things to do. I'm only here because the education is what I need."

L was almost smiling now, his eyes big and wide. This was odd. L looked almost flattered. "Really now?" he asked, "How…interesting."

"Please don't try and act normal. It's not working." Light said, before he could control himself and he slapped his hands over his mouth.

L outrightly laughed and Light made sure to look contrite. He had not meant for that to escape his mouth. He'd cultivated a personality for Mello that was brash but kind at the same time. He couldn't ruin that now with L, no matter how annoying the other man was.

"You don't hesitate to speak your mind." L said. His emotions were hidden and Mello tugged the reins of the body away from Light.

"Look, I'm hardly going to keep quiet when I disagree with something. That's the quickest way for evil to take foot. It's how most dictators like Mugabe and Gaddaffi started." Mello argued, as he tapped his fingers across the table.

"I never said that it was a bad thing. I knew someone quite like you before." L said, smirking a little.

Light, besides himself, was interested. He pulled the reigns back from Mello. "Who?"

L suddenly looked slightly hesitant. "It's not a happy story."

"There aren't many happy stories in life, and if they are happy, then there is no plot development or reason for the story to exist." Light said.

"Most stories end happily though. This one ends with justice." L said; his mouth in a tight line.

"Happiness is an ambiguous term in any case. One person's happiness is always another person's sadness. Every story is sad to someone." asked Light, as he leant back. "If you wished to keep us away from unhappiness, we wouldn't be being groomed for your position, where you see nothing but sadness."

L smiled and there was something akin to pride there. "You are determined to hear this, aren't you, Mello? Well then, let me tell you the story of the Los Angeles Beyond Birthday Murder case…"

x

The night ended with three stories about L's cases and two of Mello's stories about the orphanage and one of Light's personal stories, twisted to suit the life of Mello. Light, besides himself, felt a little jealous. He'd never been able to talk with anybody in such a benign manner, who was his equal in intelligence. Even when he'd been chained to L, L had never been able to forget that Light was Kira, and any chance of civil discussions that were enjoyable had disappeared.

And the little game had certainly been interesting. But since that night, the Kira case had erupted in full spring and Mello followed it with something of an obsession. Everyone else in the orphanage looked at him like he was crazy, he knew, especially since he never turned off his laptop anymore and constantly monitored what was happening.

"Are you okay, Mello?' asked Matt, one day, despite Light attempting to control his personality.

"I'm fine." Mello said automatically as he did another trace scan to reroute the Yotsuba group's firewall to try and let him in. Really, Light should have remembered how he did this the last time, but that detail had escaped him and he'd been spending the last few hours trying his hardest to get it to work, once the criminals stopped dying for four days, signaling the start of other Light's confinement and Higuchi's reign as Kira.

"You're not okay. Matt and I have been worried for you." Near says, his voice quiet as he plops down on Mello's lap.

"Get off." Mello said, as pushed Near off in time to see the firewall push him out for the umpteenth time. "Urrgh!" Mello growled, despite himself.

"Why are you doing this? Near beat you for first this week." Matt said, "And you haven't been sleeping at all. I always see you working away into the night. Relax, dude."

Light let Mello deal with it as he pulled hard at Matt's personality to get him to shut up. Unfortunately, Matt was more stubborn than Light would have thought and clung like a limpet to the reigns of the brunette's body.

"Yes Mello, this is unnatural. What is wrong with you?" Near said, his face furrowed and his eyes bigger than usual.

"Look," Mello said, "Kira's important. I don't know why everyone else seems to be ignoring his existence, but he is important. Look at what's happening to the world! And L's struggling. This is his longest case yet, and you know it. He's been on this for nearly five months now! Five months! His longest case took two months! As much as it pains me to say it, L will lose and die unless we can help him."

Light's attention snapped back to Mello. What? No… other him was going to win! Other him had to win _this_ round, at least. That was the whole point of this. Mello was just doing this information surveillance so that he could have more information than Near when L eventually died. Not…not sentiment. Damn it, he needed to keep Mello in check, more than he needed to keep Matt in check.

Light jumped back to Mello's body in time to hear Near's question. "Then why won't you let us help you?"

Because in this timeline, they were friends, there was no real reason that would actually be accepted. Time for some lying. "Because….because it's likely that anyone who takes on this case will be in danger. I don't want you two to be in danger. You're my best friends. Please. Stay out of this!"

The sentiment was sincerely awful. Light could not believe he was actually saying this. The things he did for his plans. If Ryuk were here, there would have been a lot of laughter. The Shinigami king was probably howling with laughter. Maybe.

Matt, to Mello's surprise, hugged him. Light froze as did Mello. "It's exactly because you don't want us involved that we're going to help you. Honestly, how did you think you were going to be better at hacking than me, the master of coding?"

"You're not arrogant in the slightest, are you Matt?" Light asked, keeping his composure together as Matt leant over him to have a go at Yotsuba's firewall.

"He has a point though." Near said, as he too decided to hug Mello. Light had to stifle the shout of frustration. What was it, molest-Mello-day, or something? Or be-affectionate –day or something else stupid like that, which only idiots came up with to make themselves feel good.

"Fine then. I'll let you idiots help me. But the moment things get dangerous, you have to promise to leave and stop helping me." Light ordered sternly.

"Only if you promise to do the same." Matt said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can't—Can't you see why I've got to do this? Kira killed my parents! They're dead now, where they were just in jail before. I never had the chance to talk to my parents and ask them why they were criminals and now Kira took that from me! If he takes L too, I will have no choice but to hunt him down and kill him! L can't die! He said that he wouldn't!" Mello said, pulling the reigns away from Light viciously as he exploded.

"He said that he wouldn't?" asked Near and Light growled. Mello was an idiot. A real idiot. Brilliant, now the shinigami King would know that Light's advantage and disadvantage was L.

"The day that he spoke to all of us, he was actually in the House. I met him when he was stealing cake from the fridge at night. I couldn't sleep and we chatted for most of the night. And he said that he wouldn't die. He promised." Mello said and Light let him do it. No point in lying; Near would see straight through it.

Near looked a mixture between betrayed and curious. "That's quite a promise to make. What will you do if he can't keep it?"

Light finally managed to get a chance to grab the reigns and did. "You know the answer to that, Near. You aren't stupid."

Near nodded and their conversation stopped as Matt finally cracked the Yotsuba firewall.

x

The day that Roger called Mello and Near to the office was the day that Light knew the game would be decided on. He had to win. He simply had to win.

"I'm afraid that L is dead." Roger said, in his annoyingly slimy tone and Light let the expression of shock and horror and sadness and weakness slip over his face. Near didn't even seem to react, which was how Light would have liked to have acted, if he was being himself.

Light let Mello's hot anger and sheer frustration slip towards the reigns of the body and let him rage at Roger, before Roger finally protested. Light grabbed the controls back and looked at Roger with a frank contemplation.

"So who's his successor then? Me or Near? Who did he choose?" Light asked, making sure to sound like he was still suitably distressed.

"That's just the issue, Mello, Near. He died before he could choose."

Light blinked. What? He thought that he would have been able to convince L enough to put him forward as his successor. He'd practically hit L over the head with his charisma and his intelligence and his confidence.

"Mello, Near, can't you two work together?" asked Roger, looking desperate. "I couldn't make that decision myself. And even Mr. Wammy is dead now, so he cannot either."

Light stared at Near. He…had to win. He…just had to win. He couldn't die in his world…not without making that change to the shinigami realm….he had to cheat.

"All right." Near said, easily, looking up at Mello. Light bit his lip in frustration. No, no, a draw would not be good enough. He had not spent 7 years in this body to even up with a 'draw' between him and the Shinigami king.

"Can't…can't you give us a test? See which one of is truly better? L…L said that he worked best when he was alone, because he was confident in his own decisions. We need to be able to emulate that. Whether it's me or Near…we need to be able to see which one of us would be better. Because only one of us can be L." Light asked, looking hesitant. Quickly, he switched his hand to Roger's controls and made the old man nod.

"Very well. I will consult with the teachers and with the police and see what I can create to test both of you." said Roger. Mello nodded and walked out, with Near following slowly afterwards. Light quickly switched controls back to Mello

"Why Mello? Why can't we just work together? We did it before!" Near said, looking almost betrayed, as they made their way back to the rooms. His voice was filled with an emotion that had been lacking during the conversation with Roger or any of the other times that Light had talked with Near, really.

"I will win, Near. Because I'm not putting you or Matt in danger. L died from this case. I'm the eldest; that means I look after you two, which means not letting you work on cases that killed L. I'm sorry Near, but I can't lose. I'm not letting you put yourself out there." Mello said, without Light's prompting. This was problematic, Mello was supposed to be more detached than this.

Near's look as Mello walked away was both heartbreaking and chilling at the same time. Neither of them wanted to lose. For Mello and Near, it was a game of succession and of friendship and who was going to be more stubborn. But for Light and the Shinigami king…they won or they died. And with their death went their ideals. Kira's ideals were etched on the human world forever, even if his reign had evaporated, but Light refused to go to Mu without etching his presence onto the shinigami realm permanently.

x

The challenge wasn't much of a challenge at all, really. He knew exactly the clues and the answers that needed to be found from leeching it from Roger's mind. All Light needed to do was backtrack and backtrack he did.

There was no doubt that Mello would win. And win, Mello did. Spectacularly. But, when Roger bowed his head and declared Mello the successor of L, neither Light nor Mello felt any happiness, as the white fog engulfed Light and ripped him away from the people of Wammy's Orphanage and the boy, Mihael Keehl, who Light had finally begun to understand.

Strange, how they'd had six years with a symbiotic relationship, and Light still didn't fully understand everything about him. Maybe humans were more complex than he'd previously assumed.

(X)

"So….you won." The King said, and he looked old and tired.

Light nodded. "That's correct. But I wouldn't worry about this realm. I will build it up from the ground and make it better than currently is. The realm languishes and the shinigami have no purpose. I strive to change that."

"And do what, exactly?" asked the King.

Light tapped the side of his nose. "That's for me to know. Goodbye, Shinigami."

The King threw Light a glare that would have destroyed him, had Light still been alive, before bits of sand started to fall from the ceiling and the Shinigami King slowly disintegrated and died. Perhaps it was too maudlin for Light, but Light felt sorry for the childlike King. He hoped that Mu still had games for the shinigami to play, however unlikely that sentiment was.

The moment that sand stopped falling, a small red book fell from the ceiling and landed in front of Light. It was slightly larger than Sidoh's and Rem's Death Notes had been, but it was mostly the same.

Light picked it up and the moment he did so, a warmth filled him and he felt complete. Light laughed, he hadn't even realised that he'd been empty. Light opened it and blinked. The only name written in the entire Death Note was…. The Shinigami King?

Light stared at it. He was unsure whether it was his Death Note that detailed the deaths that he'd caused or whether the Shinigami King had killed himself using this notebook…or whether this wasn't the first and only shinigami King. Still, it hardly mattered, Light strode around the dark, watery cave. There were a bunch of Death Notes in various colours in the corner and Light strode over to pick them up. To his surprise, his hand was deflected away from it. Interesting. So the King couldn't touch the Death Notes. It did make sense, in a twisted way. He had so much power already, why would you wish to add to that? It didn't matter anyway, Light had his Death Note and that would be enough.

He was the ruler of a new world.

Light smirked and to his surprise, Ryuk strode into the cave. "So you're finally King? Took you long enough."

Light tilted his head sideways. "How did you figure it out?"

"Hmm? Oh, the whole shinigami realm will have felt it. The entire atmosphere changes, because the shinigami king is what keeps this realm alive. The moment that the shinigami King is killed without an immediate successor, the entire realm would fall, remember? So, the moment you picked it up, you made the atmosphere different. Somehow, I'm not as bored anymore." Ryuk said, smirking.

Light laughed. "Interesting. This works out in my favour in any case. I can explain my purpose here and what I intend to do."

Ryuk smirked as he saw what Light was holding. "Aren't you going to write some names in your notebook? You could die if you don't have enough lifespan."

Light shrugged. "Yes, I think I shall. It wouldn't do to die in the middle of my speech."

He opened the book and turned around to Ryuk. "Ryuk, can I borrow your pen?"

Ryuk laughed. "Can't you just make one? You are King, after all."

Light felt his eyebrow lift but stared at his hand and imagined a pen there. To his surprise, a fountain pen similar to the ones he liked to use appeared in his hand. Light smirked triumphantly and wrote down the first names that came to mind. Nate River, Stephen Loud, Anthony Carter, Halle Bullock. Revenge was sweet, even if a part of him still remembered the small boy with white hair fondly.

He considered killing the Japanese Task Force, but thought that he'd save them for later and imagine some more interesting ways to watch them die.

Ryuk started laughing the moment that Light had finished writing down their names in neat immaculate English. Light suddenly felt himself double over in pain and coughed pathetically as he got back up. His vision was now coated by a slight tint of red.

"Did I just gain shinigami eyes?" asked Light as he turned around to look at Ryuk, whose name was above his head. No lifespan though. Weird.

Ryuk was still laughing and Light stared at his feet. They were tinged with black and he had shining scales and jewels coating his shins. Light also felt like he weighed a little more and extended a hand behind him. He had large wings protruding from his back. Instead of the elegant grey feathers he'd had before, these felt like ligament and bone, like the rest of his body.

"What happened, Ryuk!?" Light demanded, angrily.

"Every time you write a name in the Death Note, your human appearance changes to reflect your inner soul." said Ryuk, laughing again, as he clutched his sides.

Light took in a deep breath and created a chair to sit in. He perched himself upon the resplendent throne and glared at Ryuk. "Information is power, Ryuk. And I intend to be very powerful. The next time you keep information like that from me, I promise you, there will be a very painful punishment."

Ryuk grinned, not looking in the least repentant. "King Light. Aren't you proud of yourself?"

"Lord Kira. You will address me as your majesty. And I am the god of a new world, Ryuk. Let me show you what real change is." Light said, as he leant back into the chair as some shinigami came in to gape at him.

He had won.

(X)

_You look around you as you arrive. You distinctly remember dying. So where are you? It's a dull world, the clouds congregate above your head as you look around. But the place itself looks lovely. There are a variety of structures everywhere and neat gardens and plants growing everywhere. The fruit looks plump and bright. _

_There's someone in front of you, their silhouette looking like they were wearing a monster costume. Maybe it's Halloween. You walk towards them and recoil in surprise as they turn to face you. The things you'd taken as a costume were real. They have large spikes sticking out of their shoulders and eyes that burn with fire. They were carrying a black notebook in some kind of holster. _

"_Umm, can you tell me where I am?" you ask, a little hesitantly. You've never been one for discrimination, but this person freaks you out._

"_You're a new one, aren't you? You're in the shinigami realm." says what you can now distinguish as a man. _

"_Shinigami?" you ask hesitantly. It's familiar as far as words go. You just can't remember why…._

"_Death god. You are also a death god, like me. Look, I don't deal with newbies. Keep following the blue signs and you should arrive at Armonia Justin's house. He'll explain the rules to you and if you're lucky, you'll meet Lord Kira."_

"_Kira…" you repeat. It's another word that sounds familiar, but again, you can't remember why. Everything is just so fuzzy in your memory. "Isn't it a little backwards to have a monarchy? A democracy is all the way to go, right?"_

_The death god laughs. "Haha, sure, if you want to be as corrupt as the human realm is." You feel vaguely insulted, though you aren't really sure why. It's not like you disagree. _

_The death god goes back to staring down the large shimmering structure and scribbling away at something. You watch it for a while, but as it seems to be ignoring you, you walk down the road. Blue signs…blue signs…._

_There aren't any blue signs. You don't know if the other death god was having you on, but whatever the reason, it doesn't change the fact that you are now lost. "Hello?" you call out. _

_There's a large amount of noise behind you and you whip around quickly. Another death god, dressed all in black and white, with bright red lipstick looks at you coolly, her wings folding behind her. "You are new here?" she asks, her voice without emotion. _

_You nod. She rolls her eyes and taps her very long nails, which you would prefer to call, claws, against her arm. "My name is Sanaz. Welcome to the shinigami realm. I will take you to Lord Kira. He wishes to see you, for some reason, he seems to think that you'll be special. Follow me."_

_Without even waiting for you to answer, she unfolds her wings again and soars into the air. You feel nervous but jump upwards and hope to stay there. To your surprise, you do, so you follow the elegant shinigami. You can see the blue signs clearly, now that you are in the sky. _

"_What…what are the duties of a shinigami?" you ask. Usually, you wouldn't phrase your words in such a formal way, but the female shinigami's aura seems to demand sophistication on your behalf. _

"_We kill the people on the human realm who are not worthy of being there anymore. Those who are evil, die. We are silent in our judgement and to those whom we deem worthy of our favour, we give them our powers also. In your life, though it is unlikely that you will be able to remember it, you were one of those people who were granted our favour and our powers." She explains, coldly. _

"_Why can't I remember my human life?" you ask._

"_Humans who have used the Death Note, go to Mu and there, their memories are erased and they are bought here. I too used the Death Note in my life. I aided Lord Kira in his quest to rid the world of evil. My name was Kiyomi Takada, in life." She explains, looking sour. You wonder why that name also sounds very familiar. You also wonder why everyone seems to revere this Lord Kira. Is he really that great?_

_You voice this thought to the shinigami and she smiles for the first time. It's not a great look. "You will see when you meet Lord Kira for yourself. He will grant you your Death Note, himself. He does this for every newcomer."_

_You are now very curious as the two of you sweep down to a castle-like structure. It's very opulent and doesn't look very practical, but it's lovely to look upon. You fly through the main gates and pass through a large orchard, where a shinigami all in black, waves at Sanaz, his clown smile spreading wider. Sanaz ignores him, sniffing slightly. _

_Finally, you enter something that looks like a courtyard. It's a large room made of rock and it's very simple and understated in comparison to the rest of the castle. At the back of the room, there is a throne where a man sits lazily back._

_He is the most human and handsome looking person you have seen here yet, but there are jarring discrepancies. His eyes are a deep crimson red and his auburn hair is longer than you remember human hair to be. His skin is still a deep tan colour rather than blue or black like you've seen upon other shinigami, but it's cracked, like a mirror that's been smashed and there are scale-like jewels decorating his hands and legs, that look out of place upon him._

_He wears fitted trousers and an unbuttoned black shirt, over which, there is a large purple cape, fastened by a gaudily opulent fur-covered clasp. He smiles as you come in and rises, removing the cape to uncover large batlike wings that end in grey feathers. You feel slightly overwhelmed and hasten to copy Sanaz's posture of kneeling. _

"_I have told you many times, Sanaz, to stop bowing when you come in. It does embarrass me so." He says, his voice warm and pleasant to listen to. You wish that he would talk more._

"_You are my Lord, and it would be a disgrace if I did not show you the honour befitting of your status." says Sanaz stiffly and he laughs, and it is slightly brittle. _

"_You are stubborn, dear Sanaz. But enough about me. I bid you welcome, young shinigami. Please, rise."_

_You hasten to obey and he smiles as he places his hands on your shoulders. "What is your name?" asks Lord Kira and you stammer._

"_I…I can't remember…" You finally manage to say. _

_He smiles encouragingly. "Don't worry, that's normal. If you wish…I can give you a name?"_

_You nod; that would be an honour indeed, to have the King of the Shinigami give _you_ a name! He laughs. "Let me think… how about Misa?"_

_The name is unbelievably familiar. "Yes, Lord Kira. It is beautiful." You say, letting a smile cross your face. He smirks, and if it isn't entirely friendly, you pass it off as a trick of the light. He is pure and wholesome and you are unworthy for even thinking anything against him. _


	16. Asymptote

**Asymptote**

**AN: Alternate's descent into madness might have looked entirely random to any onlooker, but the secrets behind her fall were numerous and each of them was, inevitably, caused by one person. Warning for language and themes of suicide and depression. **

"I hope that this should suffice, Conces—Casey." Alternate, otherwise known as A said, as she handed over her notes from Pyschology class to C, the only other girl in Wammy's House and the proud owner of third place.

A was nice to everybody who talked to her and everybody liked her friendly demeanour, which was why, after Concession had fallen (been pushed) from the tree she'd been climbing a week ago, A was lending C all of her notes so that she wouldn't fall behind the littlies of second generation, which would have been quite a disgrace.

However, A was first, and it wasn't like A had gained her position by being kind or being generous. No, A was ruthless, behind that thin veneer of kindness. Therefore, in the Psychology notes, key facts were omitted and the important topics were only hinted at, rather than outrightly stated, but then again; A was doing C such a great favour, helping out a rival at the ever-competitive Wammy's House, so C could hardly afford to complain about the sub-standard notes, without looking ungrateful.

A would win again. As per usual.

"It should be fine, Alt." said C, looking slightly annoyed by A's near slip. Concession was the name that Wammy's had given C, but C had renamed herself Casey, to humanize her a bit more. A could only pity her and look down on her. "Bye Alt! See you tomorrow!"

The moment that C faded out of sight, A slumped in her chair. Seeming kind and benevolent took up so much energy. More energy than she felt she had anymore, to be honest. Staying on the top of food chain was so much more difficult than it had been before and she was reduced to underhanded tricks like paying off the littlies to shake the tree that Concord was climbing to topple her.

"So, she's finally gone." said a smooth voice from behind A. A smirked a little and turned around to greet her only friend and only rival for the title of L; B. He perched on her bed and looked at her curiously.

"Yeah. Hopefully, I won't see her until tomorrow. She's so annoying." A said, rolling her eyes.

"Does she know that the littlies pushed her from the tree?" asked B, casually, as he pulled at a strand of her long black hair.

"If she does, she isn't letting on or complaining. Which is unusual for C, so I'm assuming that she's clueless. And I intend on it staying that way, so don't ruin it for me, B." A said, smacking his hand away. He barely reacted and went back to tugging at her hair.

"Why would I ruin anything for you, A?" asked B, looking up. There was a little quirk to her best friend B, that only A seemed to have noticed, but every time he looked at someone, he always gazed to the top of their head before looking down at their face. In respect of their little pact to not sabotage the other, A never mentioned it, but she noticed it, and wondered some days.

"Because you're my rival?" asked A, as she ran a finger down his pallid cheek.

He caught her hand in his and looked at her straight in the eye. "Is that really how you think of me, Alt dearest?" he asked, his voice soft and ever so dangerous.

"How else would I think of you?" asked A, with a smirk, as she brought her other hand up to pull at his hair sharply. "We're certainly not friends, are we?"

"Hmm, maybe not." B murmured, before he kissed her sharply. She pushed back against him and they landed on a heap on her bed. She traced a pattern on his cheek before springing off him.

"Let me shut the door first, B. If the adults find out, we'd be doomed." A muttered as she quickly shut the door and locked it.

"Are you looking forward to L's visit, next week?" asked B, sitting up, as A drew the blinds together.

"Who wouldn't? Especially when he's only coming to see the two of us." A said, smirking a little, as she returned to the bed.

"Hmm, funny that. You'd think he'd want to see everybody, yet he only targets the best." B said, as he slipped his fingers into her hair.

"Why would he want to see the worm bait? We both know they're only there to fill space. They certainly aren't competition." A said, as she relaxed into his touch.

"Aren't they? A lot of people are saying that the newcoming littlies, that Mello boy and the other one that always wears goggles, have a tonne of potential." B said, as he kissed her throat.

"Potential. They'll never beat us, though. They may have raw talents, but we have over eight years of experience on them." A said, haughtily.

"Hmm. Still, I find it best to not underestimate the pawns on the gameboard. After all, with enough time and effort, even the pawn can become a queen." said B, letting A go.

"Do you really think so?" asked A, looking somewhat pitiful as she leant back. "You'll never get anything done if you think that everybody is a threat, B. That Matt boy has skills with hacking, it's true and that Mello boy has more determination than any of the other littlies, despite being Fourth Gen, but they won't be able to reach the top while we're still here. Remember, we don't fight fair. Wasn't it you who put Z in the hospital after it looked like he had potential in biology?"

B merely looked smug. "Sure. I'm the best in biology. I'm not letting anyone taking over my spot. But I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying, Alt." His eyes flickered back above her head and A had to resists the urge to see if there was something above her head. There wasn't and there never would be. B was just strange.

"Urgh, I'm tired of this conversation, B." A said, as she moved to kiss him. He didn't resist and they collapsed back on a pile in her bed.

"You shouldn't be tired of this conversation, Alt dearest," B said, huskily after a few minutes, as Alt traced a few circles down his chest. "It's a conversation that will pop up more and more often as they grow older."

"You aren't seriously suggesting that they're better than us, B? We could beat those two in a heartbeat. And anyway, L's coming to see the best. That's us. Not them." A said, fiercely. She didn't want to think about anyone beating her. She was first for a reason.

B didn't respond, merely looked at her, coolly. A growled a little and pushed herself upwards. Smoothing out her hair, she unlocked and walked out of the door, feeling the gaze of B's wide brown eyes follow her as she went.

(X)

"How long have we been waiting, B?" asked A, as she slouched on the desk, her head in her hands.

"Something close to an hour, I think," said B, who wasn't even bothering to do that anymore, but was instead sketching the innards of a zebra body on the whiteboard in preparation for the biology test that was tomorrow.

"Che." A said, standing up. "If it had been 15 to 20 minutes late, I would just say that he was delayed, but this…this is just ridiculous."

"It's obvious that L doesn't care to see us. That he has no respect for us and considers us below him. So far below him that he thinks he can keep us waiting for an hour." B said, looking irritated as he turned around.

"We are below him though, B." A said, sighing a little, as she perched back on the table. "Still, it doesn't excuse this. I have things to be doing. Like studying for Biology and Logic tomorrow. I'm not staying on top by neglecting to study."

B shrugged and erased his sketches. "I'm leaving. I'm fed up of waiting. My patience is running thin."

"I'll come with." A said, jumping off the table and they headed towards the door when it opened. Mr. Wammy stood in the door, a smile on his face, as per usual. "A, B. L will see you now."

A frowned and threw a look towards B. The timing was slightly too coincidental. Had L been waiting until they'd gotten fed up of waiting? B's eyes widened and he pulled a face. A rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's go, Mr. Wammy."

They were taken down the corridor, close to the offices of the teachers. Mr. Wammy knocked on a door and took them inside. The room was darkened. A squinted a little bit and reached for B's hand as Mr. Wammy nodded and shut the door again.

As A's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed a rather large abundance of sweets scattering the room. There seemed to be sugar cubes in stacks all over the room and a lot of soft sofas and chairs, along with a huge computer system. A exchanged an incredulous look with B and they both turned to the computer system. It seemed completely new and nothing like A had ever seen.

"What is this?" A asked as she ran her fingers over the cool metallic surface.

"I would ask that you not touch any of the equipment in this room. It is rather sensitive." came a monotone voice from behind them. A swung around and B followed suit.

A boy not much older than them was standing there, his form hunched over. He had the messiest black hair that A had ever seen and the beginnings of dark bags under his eyes. His skin was paler than even B's and his eyes were wide. He wore a simple white t-shirt and jeans and he had a finger touched to his lips. He nodded towards them.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Alternate, Backup. There was a case I simply couldn't abandon. I apologize for any inconvenience." He said, simply, in the same monotone as before. "Please, make yourselves comfortable." He immediately crouched in one of the armchairs and reached for one of the doughnuts on the table in front of him.

A threw another look towards B but B was making that adorable annoyed face that he did whenever someone said his codename and seemed to be ignoring A's glance and discomfiture. It was obvious that L felt no sorrow for his actions and A hated that about him already.

"We prefer A and B. They're less degrading than the codenames." She said, curtly, as she took a seat on the chair, pulling her legs up next to her. B took a seat next to her, in the lazy relaxed way he always did.

"Very well, A and B. Congratulations on all of your hard work. You are the top two people in line to succeed me." Despite the monotone voice and inscrutable face, just by the way he phrased his sentence; A could tell that he seemed rather annoyed by the existence of his successors. She hated that about him too, why go to the trouble of having successors if you didn't even respect them?

"Yes, what of it?" asked A, "Is this just a congratulations session? Because if it is, it's just a waste of my time. I have studying to do."

L's mouth seemed to twitch upwards at the side by A's comment and A hated that too. He had no right to be amused by her question, because it was a legitimate one. She wanted to throw another look towards B, to see what he thought of the strange man, but that would imply that she was dependent on B, which she wasn't. They were friends, or something like that. A wasn't really sure what they were, except close. But she wasn't dependent on him.

"No, I wish to test both of your abilities." L said, between a mouthful of doughnut, as he reached to grab something. That something was five photos. "Here, these are images of five murders. However, one of them isn't. Identify which is not a murder."

B reached out for the photos before A did and spread them out on the table, sweeping off some of the sugar related products. L looked briefly annoyed but any hint of an expression beyond indifference, soon vanished. A turned to the photos, smirking a little. She could see the ulterior motive there. L wanted to see if they were capable of dealing with pictures of death. Hah. If he thought he had wimps for successors, he had another thing coming.

One was of a man with a knife through his chest. The hilt was behind him and the tip out of the front of the chest. Definitely a murder. A reached out behind her. Sure, she could touch her back, but being able to make one clean stab and to die from that would nearly impossible. A turned over the photo and B nodded and turned over one of the other ones.

A trusted him and kept searching. One was of a man with a bullet through his skull. The side of his skull, not the front, where a logical person would shoot. A put her hands together, made a gun with them and pointed at L. Yes, she could only get the front of his head. Getting that kind of angle was difficult, even if she was attacking from the side. No, this looked like the suicide.

A picked up the photograph. "This is the suicide, right B?"

B quickly tilted his head sideways and looked at it. "That's about right. Angle's off for a murder, right?"

"Hmm, it's what I thought. This one." A said, handing the photo to L. L picked it up awkwardly with just two fingers and nodded.

"Yes, that's correct. Now, try this." L placed the doughnut down on one of the remaining plates, and reached for one of the pencils on the desk. Holding the end of the pencil with only three fingers, L quickly wrote something down.

"Solve it. A, you do this one first. I'll give the next one to B." L said, as he handed the paper to her. A took another pencil, avoiding the sugar covered pencil. The code was a series of dots and dashes. Easy, Morse code.

Yet, when the Morse code was deciphered, it read YOZSPWTGXYPIAZQ. Bother. That was tricky. It could be absolutely anything from here. A quickly ran through the simple Caesar shifts in her head of the code, substituting all of the 26 letters into the shift, but nothing seemed to come through. Nothing that made sense, anyway.

Then, the code would be a fairly simple code to compose but difficult to solve….Vigenere code. Damn, she hated that code. It was nearly uncrackable, because depending on what the keyword was, it could be any code. But…L had composed it in a very short amount of time. Ergo, the keyword would definitely be something related to him.

Not L, a single letter wouldn't work as a key code. But, L had fleetingly looked at the door before he'd written the code…Door?

A drew out the vigenere table, quickly and ran the cipher through the word door. Nonsense, both ways. Using column then row or row then column gave her no results. Then what was associated with the door? Hinge? A tried that and still got nonsense, both ways.

Bother, L was smirking a little. A wasn't going to be beaten by him. A didn't lose. A was for achievement, advantage, accomplishment. L was for loser, last, lachrymose, lacking.

Door, doorway. It was a doorway, which meant what? It was inconsequential. It was an object of transit. What were more important were the people who came through the doors.

Alternate. Another failure. Backup. Also gibberish. Watari. Another wasted attempt. A sighed, she was tired of this.

"Hey, could I take one of those cakes?" asked B, suddenly. A looked at him, rolling her eyes. B shrugged and mouthed that he was hungry. Typical.

"Feel free." L said, shrugging. "Are you almost done, A?"

"Not yet. Give me a few more minutes." A said, sighing.

"Take your time." L said, taking another bite from the doughnut. His nonchalance disgusted her.

"This is delicious! Who made it?" asked B as he started into his cake. A sighed and gazed down at the paper again. Another key word. Doorway?

"Watari." said L, laconically.

"Who, Mr. Wammy? He acts as Watari? Isn't he a little old? Surely the stress must get to him?" asked B, as he took another spoonful from his cake. A froze. Wammy?

Yes. Yes, it worked. The column to row translation worked. CONGRATULATIONS. A growled, angrily. Was L trying to make her angry? Hadn't she just said that she had no time for congratulations? This was no coincidence and it made her know that all of this was definitely purposeful. L was one aggravating son of a bitch.

"Done." A said, handing the sheet of paper to L, curtly. "I apologize for being so slow. I merely wanted to double check. Wouldn't want to be wrong, after all."

"An admirable attitude, A." L said, a smile playing at his lips. What was this new game? Was it just a coincidence, or did her next sentence have to consist of only Ls...? She hated playing these word games. She didn't especially mind them with B, but L….gods, how she hated him.

"Now, you next, B. Are you ready?" asked L. A scowled. He was just ignoring her? Ttch. There weren't words for the annoyance and disorientation she felt by his demeanour, Still, A forced a smile onto her face as B quickly surveyed his code. His brow furrowed and he started to scribble away at the paper, biting his lip like he usually did.

A couldn't help her fake smile turning into a soft, real smile. B was the only person she really trusted with anything and she knew him like the back of her hand after eight years together.

B smirked triumphantly and A leant back. B handed the paper to L, wordlessly and slouched back against the sofa, silently brushing his thumb over A's hand. He had been faster than her here, but codes had always been his specialty, as well as biology. She was better at visualizing and memory.

"Well done, B. Both of you are very impressive. Now, I have just one more little test." L said, smiling a little. A lifted her eyebrow.

"What is it, L?" she asked, keeping her voice warm, as it usually was when she was with others other than B. She had been a little lax, having been thrown off by his appearance, but he was harmless, if very annoying.

"Lie to me." said L calmly. A let her eyebrows crinkle in a look that clearly stated that she doubted his sanity.

"Convincingly, I presume?" B said, letting his eyebrow rise. "I suppose that saying that I am a 14 foot giant purple platypus that eats children, wouldn't be what you're getting at."

A snorted and even L looked slightly amused by B's statement. "Yes, you're quite correct. Convincingly."

"The thing is," A said, smirking at his very large logical fallacy, "We can't. By asking us to lie to you, you've ensured that we cannot. You would now know that everything we say is false, therefore, we cannot convincingly lie to you, for you would never believe it."

L leant back in his chair, and this time, the smile was unmistakable. "Nicely identified, A. You are both definitely worthy of being successors. I am impressed. Now the only thing to test is your initiative, and that isn't easily done out of the blue. Very well, I believe that is all."

A stood up and bowed a little. "If you don't mind, we'll be leaving now."

B threw her an annoyed look, she knew, but she ignored him and grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room. B frowned as they strode down the corridors.

"What was that for, Alt? I wanted to ask him some question about how he does his investigations!" he said, looking slightly annoyed.

A looked left and right for people and checked for cameras. Nothing, She grabbed his shoulders and looked B in the eye. "Doesn't he creep you out, B? He's so freaky and so annoying! Everything you hate, he'll shove straight back in your face, just to see if you'll react!"

B merely raised a single eyebrow. "Isn't that the whole point? He was trying to test us, Alt. We wouldn't be very good successors if we couldn't keep our cool under some mild taunting. And sure, he's weird, but are we any less weird?"

"Yes!" A exclaimed as her grip on his shoulders tightened. "We're not that strange, and you know it, B! We could fit in the normal world, if we really needed to. He never could!"

"Your English is deteriorating in your anger." B said calmly, "And the fact is Alt, that he'll never have to. He's L, the world's greatest detective, shrouded in secrecy. He won't ever have to go into the real world. And when he dies, we'll live in that same luxury, whichever one of us is first at that time."

A frowned and let go of B. She didn't say what she was really feeling; that she wasn't sure that she wanted to be L anymore.

(X)

"Hey Alt, did you hear? That Mello boy came first out of all of the littlies without any effort. They're thinking of moving him into our rankings early." B said, walking into her room. He was almost hunched over and A frowned.

"B, what are you doing?" she asked, as she swiveled around in her chair.

"Me? I'm slouching. It's quite uncomfortable really; I don't know how L does it all day." He said calmly, as he leapt unto her bed and crouched there in the same way that L had sat, before cocking his head sideways, in some kind of weird imitation of an owl. "Well? Had you heard?"

"No, I hadn't, but why are you crouching like that, B?" asked A, as she bit her lip, the way that B usually did.

B threw her a look. "You aren't stupid, Alt dearest. Surely you, with your brilliantly developed intellect can figure it out."

A pulled a face. "Let me rephrase that. I understand what you are doing. What I don't understand, is why. Why would you want to imitate him?"

B tilted his head sideways and pressed a finger to his lips. "He is the best detective in the world. Maybe there's something to the way he acts."

A groaned. "Please don't, B. It scares me, a little. Especially, with how much you resemble each other."

B's eyes sharpened. "We resemble each other?" he asked, his voice soft and pleased.

A felt incredulous. "You couldn't see it? Your noses and the shapes of your eyes are pretty much the same. Trust me; I wasn't happy about the resemblance, myself."

B leapt off the bed and kissed her passionately. A let go, straightened his back with a well-placed elbow before kissing him back, equally fiercely. Gods, even if he had his weird moments, she did love hi—

Wait, where had love come from? She supposed that it summed up the extent of her feelings for B, really, but love was exploitable, vulnerable. A friendship, wasn't.

A didn't lose. She wasn't going to lose her heart. Not yet, anyway.

They broke apart, panting slightly. "Doesn't matter if the littlie is joining us. He won't beat us. He'll never beat us, unless we become complacent." A said, as she pressed a kiss to B's throat.

"And that's unlikely to happen, isn't it, little A?" asked B, smirking, a little, as he bared his throat so she could get better access.

"What are you implying, B? I'm perfect, there's no chance that I'll ever be or ever was, complacent. Don't be stupid." A said, biting down on the skin a little.

"Of course not." B said with a smirk, tugging at her hair, as he always did. A bared her teeth at him, and he laughed lowly. "Oh, and L's coming back in two weeks' time. Won't that be fun, Alt dearest?"

A froze. "What?" she asked, her voice low and cold.

"You heard me. I think he wants to test our initiative, like he said last time." B said, his voice husky, as he pressed a kiss to her ear.

A pulled away and pressed her hand against her mouth. She stood still for a moment, before punching the wall, angrily. B looked almost amused, though there was a definite mix of concern in there. Her hand ached, and she was sure that she had damaged something.

"Dammit." A said, "Dammit all. I don't want to see him again."

"Why, does the big bad L scare little A?" mocked B, his voice filled with mirth.

"No, he pisses me off." A said, scowling. "He has no manners and he's intentionally trying to make me angry. Why would I want to spend more time with him? You know, the ICPO actually spent one entire conference telling everyone about all of their experiences with L and how much they disliked him? I can't say I disagree now that I've met him in person."

B laughed and A scowled. "Get out. Don't you dare play his advocate. I won't allow it. You see it, too. He's a freak."

B's face froze. "That's a little harsh, isn't it, Alt dearest? I do believe that calling him names isn't really the way to go. I've never really believed in that." He said recovering a little. A felt her hands go to her face.

"I'm…I'm sorry, B. If that brought back any memories. I can't say I understand, because my mother wasn't like that. She just ignored me. I…I didn't mean to offend you. I did mean it though. I hate him." A said, feeling her voice go unbelievably shaky and uncoordinated. She also hated feeling out of control, but, if it would make that horribly disgusted look on B's face go away, A would tolerate it.

"Hate is a strong word, A." he said, his face softening into a slight smirk. "Are you sure you're ready to wage war against L?"

"I'm not that stupid. He'd annihilate me if I tried to do that, now. No, I'll bide my time, and I'll strike when he's weak. I presume that you won't be helping me." A said, letting her voice get back to normal.

"I don't think so." B said, smirking a little. "I'll watch you squirm for a bit."

A laughed a little. It wasn't funny, but it seemed to prop up his spirits a little. His eyes flickered above her head again and A suppressed the urge to ask what he found so fascinating about the top of her head. She had just angered him. She wasn't risking it again.

(X)

"Come on B, we're going to be late and Mr. Wammy will give us that lo—B?" A strode into B's room and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight that greeted her. B was hunched over by the mirror, styling his previously mahogany brown, now pitch black hair into bird's nest mess.

"Hullo A." said B, turning around and tilting his head at her. "What's the matter?" he said, seeing her astonished face. "Don't you like it?"

"No. No, I don't B…I understood the mannerism mimicking to an extent, maybe it would actually do something for the mind; but B…what's having the same hair going to do? You're supposed to be a replacement for L, not a fucking carbon copy!" A said, feeling her heart shatter and break. He looked more like L than ever.

B was about to say something when A shook her head and grabbed his arm. "Come on, we're going to be late." She dragged him out of his room and stalked towards the room where they'd met L last time, concealing her emotions beneath the mask of happy politeness.

Mr. Wammy let them in again and B made a beeline for the sofa. A followed him more reluctantly and sat on the opposite side of the sofa.

"What's wrong, little A? Can't even sit next to me now that I look like L?" mocked B quietly, looking slightly hurt.

A rolled her eyes. "It's not that. Do you honestly think that I ever cared about your appearance? I couldn't care less if you'd died your hair bright pink, as long as your personality stayed the same. But you're changing so much everyday. You're not you anymore, B. You're turning into an L clone and that's what I hate. That's why I can barely look at you, anymore."

B looked at her for a while and something in his gaze flickered and then he pulled her into a hug and A leant into it. They weren't usually the sappy type, but at least he seemed to understand her a little bit. Then, he kissed her sharply and A leant into that too. At least he wasn't acting like L on that front.

There was a slight cough from behind them and A sharply pulled away from B, feeling her cheeks grow warm. She had completely forgotten that they were in L's lair. He was carrying a large cup of coffee and some papers in the other hand. Luckily, he didn't comment on what they were doing, instead perched on the sofa opposite them and handed them the papers.

"This is a crime that I solved two days ago. I haven't handed in the report to the police yet. I wish to see if you get the same answer as I do. Any evidence that is lacking, you are welcome to ask for or get." L said, his voice remaining monotone, as he drunk his coffee slowly.

A lifted up the papers and quickly scanned the information. Now that L had seen them kissing, there was no harm in acting like she normally did with B.

"So, 12 people dead in alleyways, all either stabbed or clubbed to death, which would indicate that the murderer either has two different weapons, or that there are two different people killing. Interesting. All of the crime scenes had the word Rache written at the scene of the crime, in blood. What does that suggest?" A summarized.

B sneered. "Ttch. They have no imagination. And they're awful at getting their facts right."

"What do you mean, B?" asked A as she leant back.

"Rache was written at the scene of the two crimes in Sherlock Holmes' first mystery novel, A Study in Scarlet. But this isn't an homage. This is just the killer being sloppy or attempting to allude to something." B said, tapping the paper, "Most homages would have more of a flare. These murders lack that flare that makes them exciting. If you're going to recreate the Sherlock Holmes murders, why only write the word Rache? Why not dress them in red, have the two pills at the scene of the crime, the cigarette ash on the floor? It doesn't make sense!"

"Weren't there other things at the scene of the Sherlock Holmes crimes though? Maybe some of those made it past the cut." A said, smirking.

"I can't remember what those were exactly…" B said, frowning, as he pressed a thumb to his mouth. A noticed out of the corner of his eyes, that L was frowning at B, his eyes slightly narrowed. He was creeped out by B's transformation. The only good thing about the whole affair.

"I think D has a copy of it. Go ask him for it." A said, biting her fingernail.

B rolled his eyes and smirked. "Fine, then Alt dearest, so you don't have to risk your precious energy on walking down two flights of stairs, I'll do it for you."

She shook her head and sat back against the chair, as she scanned over the data again. There didn't seem to be anything else worth noting. The times were utterly random, though distributed mostly through the evening, which indicated the murderer worked during the day. A sighed as she looked up again. The gaze of L staring at her had finally gotten to her.

"Look L," she said, her voice biting, "I don't like you. I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual from what I've seen."

"That isn't entirely incorrect." L said, as he finished his coffee.

"Look at you, you can't even show emotion at that fact, can you?" asked A, shaking her head. "I'm going to beat you, however long it takes. I won't let you stay first. I won't let you influence B like you're doing now. Just watch me beat you."

L threw her a look before his mouth curved into a smirk. "I look forward to it, Alternate." He said. A merely threw him a cool look of disdain and returned to her papers, but inwardly she was fuming.

It's like he wouldn't even acknowledge her challenge! Didn't she even register on his threat scale? And calling her Alternate, after she'd told him how degrading it felt…she hated him. She hated L with every fibre of her being. It pulsed through her and made her stronger. She would beat him. She had to beat him.

Just watch her.

(X)

A sighed as she flicked over the page in her book and kept scanning through the information. It was around 3 in the morning and tomorrow she had a chemistry exam and she still didn't know all of the isotopes and their half-lives.

This was exhausting. She wasn't even sure what she was doing anymore. A hit her head against the book. She'd probably preemptively killed about a thousand cells, but the action had made her a little more awake.

Beating L was more difficult than she had thought. She'd managed to acquire all of his scores through some hacking and pretending to be friendly with Matt. She was close to his scores, but beating him would be difficult. So she had abandoned that alleyway and went towards L's detective work.

But, A had to admire L in one aspect, at least; getting yourself established as an anonymous detective was harder than it look. No one trusted her information and she didn't have enough contacts to beat L in terms of trustworthiness. She supposed that she would need her own Watari to even get anywhere near close what he was doing worldwide. Fat chance of that happening from the orphanage where she was practically trapped.

A sighed again, she'd lost track of where she'd been on the page and was pretty sure that she'd been rereading the same line for the past two minutes. A had never cried once since she'd come to Wammy's House, but she was dangerously close to breaking down now. A slammed the book shut and breathed heavily.

She was useless. She was barely clinging to first now, and B was looking and acting more and more like L, every day. He was even starting to mimic L's voice from what he remembered and considering B had eidetic memory, it was an almost perfect replica of L following her around.

She was losing in every sense of the word and in every aspect of her life, to L.

It didn't make sense. A was the first letter in the alphabet!

A stood for achievement, ace, adaptable, advantage, adroit, alluring, amazing, audacious, amicable, aloof!

L was for loser, lousy, lachrymose, lackey, lazy, less, lethargic, liar, lifeless, lugubrious, lunatic, least, laggard, lamentable, languid, languishing, lassitude, late, last.

But A also stood for afterwards, already, alternative, awkward, afraid, abysmal, accompanist, adjacent, arrant, asinine, appalling.

She was only an adjective to L's noun, an adverb to his verbs.

She was after L, allocated to fill his role, and not surpass him.

She was alone in her fight against L and filled with anguish.

She was only an analogy for his brilliance.

She was arbitrary in comparison to L's hold upon the law.

A stood for alternate.

A stood for amateur.

A stood for anathema.

A stood for anomaly.

A stood for another.

A stood for anonymous.

A stood for anticlimax.

A stood for anybody.

A stood for atrocity.

A stood for apprentice.

A stood for aspirant.

A stood for assistant.

A stood for auxiliary.

A stood for average.

No. A stood for Asymptote, the line that stretched towards infinity; reaching aimlessly and futilely for the line that it would never touch, no matter how close it got. No matter how much she tried, she was never going to be able to reach that pinnacle of hope and light.

A started laughing and now she'd started she couldn't stop. She was aware that she was really quite loud, but really, she could hardly care about the other inhabitants of the House as she shattered. She was crying with the force of her laughter, but soon, the mirth faded away and she was crying all over her desk.

So now what? Now she had no hope left, no ambition, no desires, no future. Now what?

(X)

"Alt?" asked B as he came in, his usual slouch. A was making paper cranes out of her biology textbook and throwing them at the wall.

"Hi, B." she chirped, with a smile, "How are you feeling? Today's lovely, isn't it?"

B stared at her. "I distinctly recall our roles being reversed a month ago, but I'll say this now. What are you doing?"

"The Japanese say that if you make a thousand paper cranes, you'll get a wish. Guess which book has 1000 pages?" A explained, as she folded a page about lymphocyte tolerance.

"But we haven't finished studying our textbook yet." B said, giving her a very wary look.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, what did you need?" she asked, as she let her fingers swiftly fold and rip the pages.

B looked uncertain as he perched on the end of her bed. "A…have you seen the rankings yet?"

A shook her head, not letting her gaze slip off the cranes. "No not yet. What are they like?"

"It's… I mean, I can't- I'm first. And you're second." He says, sounding almost apologetic.

She looks up, that's…quite something. "Well done, B!" she said, letting smile warm her face. "That's excellent."

"Yeah, but that's not the whole picture, A." he said, coldly. A was rather confused really. Usually B called her Alt dearest or little A when it was just the two of them. Never…never like this, unless he was angry with her.

"What do you mean?" A asked, as she threw another crane at the wall.

"I thought that this was strange, after all, I hadn't done anything extraordinary this week, nothing that would warrant beating you out, so I went to ask Mr. Farin about why I was first, and do you know what he said?" he said, his voice still cold.

"Mmm?" A asked absently, as she concentrated on ripping the page out.

"He said that you'd failed the Chemistry test. You'd only got about 19 marks out of 200." B said, and this time, B's voice was so sharp, it could have cut through rock.

That…was slightly shocking. But… did it really matter? A shrugged. "Tante pis." She said, using her favourite French saying.

"No A, it's not nothing!" B said, and his voice could have turned a flame into ice. "90% is nothing. 80% is nothing. Even 70% is still regainable. This is 10%! 10 bloody percent! You can't get a score like that unless you're trying to fail! You promised me to try your hardest in everything and I promised you the same! YOU PROMISED THAT YOU'D BE A CHALLENGE TO FIGHT!"

He was shouting now and A hummed noncommitedly. It was nice, that he was coming back to being B. As that weird clone of L, he hadn't ever shouted. He was even sitting upright now, instead of the crouch that she'd almost gotten used to over the past few days. It was nice.

"Stop ignoring me, A!" he snapped, grabbing her hands, which caused her to rip the paper crane she was making straight in half. She stared at the paper and their hands.

"It's…ripped…. How am I going to get a wish now?" she asked him, feeling just a little lost.

His eyes were filled with confusion. Then his expression softened. "What's wrong, A? This isn't like you."

"Nothing's wrong, except my attitude from before." A said, as she attempted to put the crane back together. B gently took the crane from her hands and put his hands in hers.

"A, there was nothing wrong with your attitude from before. You were ambitious, just like the rest of us, and you were first. You know that L wants you as his successor." B said, his voice strangely soft.

At this, A laughed bitterly. "As if. He doesn't want a successor at all, B. He hates both of us and everybody here for existing. He hates to be reminded of his mortality. He thinks that he'll live forever. He wants to live forever. And I don't want to be him. So we're both fine with it."

B looked above her head again and back at her face, his eyebrows furrowed and something akin to despair on his face. "A, come on, let's go to Mr. Farin. We can get the test retaken and you can get back to first."

"B, what's above my head that's so fascinating? Everytime you look at someone, it's always to the space above their heads, not their faces. I didn't ask before, but I am curious." A said, ignoring his previous statement. She didn't want to retake the test.

B looked at her again, completely speechless. His look of bemusement was really quite something to behold. Then he smirked. "I'll tell what I find so fascinating, if you promise to me that you'll start actually trying in class again. And not purposely failing the tests."

A frowned. "That's an unfair trade. You get so much more in return."

B shook his head. "I haven't told anyone what I can see. Not once in my life. They'd think I was crazy. I'll also tell you my name, if you'll promise me that you'll be a challenge to beat again."

A, besides herself, was curious. "Fine. I promise that I'll start trying in class again. And we can go and retake the test."

B relaxed and his trademark smirk returned. "Thank you."

"Now, tell me what you see." A said, gripping his arms.

B ran a finger down her arm."Asami Ukitake. 0,0,7,79,27." He said. "Your real name, if I'm correct?"

A stared at him, her mouth dropped open. She nodded wordlessly. Their real names weren't even in the systems. Only their codenames. There was no way that he was making this up. "You...you see that over people's heads?" she asked, weakly.

B nodded, as he tugged at a strand of her black hair. "That's right. All my life."

"What….what do the numbers stand for?" asked A, feeling very curious.

"I don't know." He said, shrugging. "They're constantly changing through. So there are only really a few things they can be."

A looked at him straight on for the first time since he'd come in the room and B looked away. "You won't be sharing those insights with me, will you, B?"

"No." he agreed. "But I will tell you this. The name I see above my head is Beyond Birthday."

"Beyond…" A said. It sounded like him. Better than B. More personal. A smiled. "It suits you."

"It should, I chose it." Beyond said, rolling his eyes. "Now come on, A, let's go."

(X)

Her promise to B lasted all of a week. Enough to get back into the top rankings and fool people that she was still competition. They'd passed off her lapse as the result of a migraine and a bad cold, that had cleared up after a good night's sleep. Of course, that didn't last, couldn't last. A felt no drive, other than B's encouragement. What good was it all?

What good was she? What was she? Did anybody even like her? Sure, they pretended to like her, but she knew that they resented her place at first. Why? She didn't even want to be first anymore! Why did they dislike her?

A laughed a little as she traced her real name across her wrist. She was a little disappointed if she was honest. She'd kind of wanted to tell B herself, once they'd left the House to do something more worthwhile than chase a goal that would never drop into their laps. It was kind of hurtful that he'd known this all along.

And then of course, the final nail in the box was what had happened today. That mewling infant, that barely out of diapers child, had beaten out B for second place! That Mello had beat her B, was unfathomable. Unbelievable. She had no inspiration, so she could see why Mello might have beaten her, but B? He wanted nothing more than to be L and to be challenged. And now, she was slightly jealous, if she was honest.

She knew that the only reason that she and B had ever made friends was because B had been interested by the fact that she was the only person who had ever challenged him in the mental aspect. But now…this littlie was reaching her level, had beaten B….what if B got interested?

A couldn't fathom that. A…didn't want to think about the consequences of that action. She didn't even want to imagine that.

…But what if he was happier like that? Challenged by someone who actually wanted to win? He'd been so annoyed when A had said that she no longer wanted to win. Maybe…maybe this was for the best. Maybe he would be happier this way. Maybe…maybe everybody would be happier without her. After all, what did she do in the house that was worth anything? She was reluctantly first and before, she'd sabotaged other people's efforts to reach the position that she no longer wanted.

Who would miss her? They would probably have a party after she was gone.

Okay…maybe not outwardly. Even by Wammy's House standards, that was cold. But they would be happy on the inside. Less competition. Or…in the most important person's case…better competition. More competition.

What…what was she worth?

What purpose did she have here? Really?

…What if she removed herself from the equation?

(X)

B slouched as he walked down the corridor. Through the window to the garden, there seemed to be a commotion near the church. Hmm. Probably some idiot had tried to climb the wall again. Ahem, Casey.

A would laugh at the idiots antics once Casey was put in hospital. Probably. She'd been problematically boring lately. No snark, no funny comments, no dastardly amusing plans of sabotage; just staring at the wall in confusion and half-hearted tries at their twisted relationship. Boring.

He hoped that she would recover her raison-d'etre soon, or B would have to actually take her to a psychiatrist. And that would be even more dull than putting up with her in this state.

B knocked on A's door before shoving inwards. The room was empty. Odd. Where would she have gone? The library was closed for maintenance and she didn't have lessons right now. B didn't fancy trooping all over the orphanage to find her. She'd come back here soon enough.

B perched on her bed in L's way of crouching. He'd been slightly confused by L's stance when they'd first met him, but he'd tried it out, and things became a lot clearer when he sat like that. Weird how that worked out, that neatly. B wondered how L had figured out that the posture was better for clearing his neuron synapses.

Speaking of clearing…A's room was a mess. Which was unusual, because A was fairly neat usually. There was paper everywhere. B picked a sheet up and blinked. It was a sheet from their biology textbook… folded up into a paper crane.

B quickly let his gaze fall upon the table. Her craft knife was missing and there were small fibres on the desk. B loped over to her desk and picked up the strands. Rope. What? What would A want with ro—

Shit. B raced out of the door, not bothering to keep his stance as L. It was impossible to run like that anyway. He thundered past some flustered teachers and students, as quickly as he could out of the garden door. He didn't stop to put on shoes and fled through the wet grass towards the church.

Her numbers…her numbers….1 day left from this morning…No, not now! Not now! He wasn't ready for another incident like that day!

He had to hope that he wasn't—too….late….

B stared upwards as some children on the outskirts of the crowd cried. B shoved past them and walked up towards the flagpole that hung out from the church wall. Just taller than A. His height exactly. He slipped the noose rope off the flagpole on his tiptoes and caught her body as it fell.

She was pretty, even in death, even with vivid red rope-burns around her neck. Her pitch-black hair was still immaculate, after all of that. He tugged at her hair. There would never be a response from her. B leant forward, not caring much about the spectators and brushed a kiss to her lips.

Her hand was tightly clutched around a last bit of paper. B tugged it from her hand, despite the clutch of rigor mortis and read the scrawled message.

_1000 cranes. Make a wish, B. Become better and stronger, in a way that I will never be._

_~Asami Ukitake. _

Beyond laughed darkly. Better. B stood for better, didn't it? Better than whom? She was gone. She had been the only person who'd only been able to challenge him.

…No. No, she wasn't the best, was she? That had been L. And she'd burned out chasing after him. After finding out that her efforts to chase after him were in vain. After finding out that he didn't even want or like his successors. After finding out that the one who'd taken away her dreams and desires was slowly seeping into B.

B had never felt any emotion apart from gratefulness and a sense of amusement towards L. Until now. Now…he'd never hated anybody more.

Very well. L. If L was going to take away B's only friend and rival, B would take away everything that made L successful. If L was a genius, B would be an extreme genius. If L was a freak, B would be an extreme freak.

No one could face themselves. No one could defeat themselves. He would beat L at his own game. For A. For Asami.

**AN: This is the Alternate of my imaginings. And this is also the Wammy's House of my imaginings before things like mental tests and nicknames that the students got to choose. Like B, I also blame L for his carelessness about the children under his support, if not his care. I believe that entire tragedy was L's fault and I wanted to show that. Of course, L isn't a bad guy either, but he's only two years older than A and B. His mentality isn't quite that of an adult, even if he solves adult-like cases. He says it himself in canon; he's childish and doesn't like to lose.**

**That combined for the disdain for his successors, I believe that a man with as much pride in his infallibility as L has; L really did cause A's death and B's madness. They were both already slightly instable...but yeah. But, L isn't an idiot and he definitely has feelings. I believe that he would feel guilty for A's death and that would be the reason that no one from the orphanage would ever see him again, except through camera.**

**Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this.**


	17. The Adverse Collaboration

**The Adverse Collaboration**

**Summary: If Mello had been able to put aside his pride and work with Near, how might the future have changed? No romance. **

_"If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle, you're nothing but a loser." Near said, as he tipped out his white puzzle to the ground. Mello shook his head and turned back towards Roger._

_"So L, between me and Near, who did he…?"_

_Roger was silent and Mello frowned. "I'm afraid that he hadn't chosen yet, Mello. And now he is dead, you see."_

_Mello felt himself stunned into shock. Hadn't… chosen… yet?_

_Roger leant forward. "Mello, Near, how about you both work together?"_

_"Yes, agreed." said Near, instantaneously. Mello felt his face twist up in disgust. He couldn't imagine working together with the white-haired twerp. They were always competing and he was always second place…But….Kira…._

Mello sighed. "Roger, may Near and I have a few moments? I need to discuss something with him."

Roger nodded and got out of his chair. "I shall be waiting outside."

The moment Roger left left, Mello turned to Near. "Listen, I don't like you. I think that impression was made very clear by our interactions throughout our childhood. However, Kira killed L. That can't just be taken lightly. Under any other circumstances, I'd let you take over the role, but frankly, I don't think you'll be able to take down Kira, if even L failed. You need my help…and well. I need yours. So, if we're to work together, I have some conditions."

Near didn't look up from his puzzle. "Go ahead." He said.

"Firstly, neither of us can command the other. We're equal in power as far as this goes, and any decision we make need to be unanimous. I'm not following orders from you." Mello said, scrunching his fists up.

Near nodded. "That's more than fair. Agreed."

"Secondly, we work away from Wammy's House. I don't want to stay here while our operation is going forwards." said Mello.

At this, Near looked up. "That seems strategically unsound. Wammy's House has many resources and many other individuals whose help or connections may be necessary to contribute to L's ideology."

Mello nodded. "I know that, but we'd be putting the people here in danger, and well. You know some of the kids who don't know about L's connection to the orphanage support Kira. If they leak information, we're doomed. I want to make sure that we're secure."

Near frowned. "I still do not think that this is the wisest course of action, but for the sake of cooperation, I agree."

"And finally, once Kira's dead, we go our separate ways. By then, one of us is bound to be fed up of the other's company and we can decide then who gets L's title for good. But, I'm not working in collaboration with you for longer than it takes to solve this case." Mello said clearly

To his surprise, Near looked rather annoyed by this. "That…." The boy trailed off before shaking his head. "I suppose if you dislike me that much, it can't be helped. I agree, though, reluctantly."

Mello threw Near an odd look, before walking towards the door. "You can come back in now, Roger. Near and I will be working together for the title of L."

Roger looked very relieved. "I am glad. It would have been difficult to choose between two equally talented people. Should I set up the attic rooms for the investigation?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "No, you don't need to. In a couple of days, we shall be leaving."

Roger looked horrified. "What? Why?"

"We're putting the inhabitants of Wammy's House at risk, especially the people who do not know about L and did not wish to get involved with danger." Near answered curtly. "We will be taking this operation elsewhere, to keep ourselves and the other children at this house safe. We must take severe precautions now, especially with L's death."

Roger looked a little worried. Mello was almost touched that the old man actually cared. Almost. The whole orphanage had pretty much hated him, because he was the only one who enforced the rules and handed out punishments. "I cannot stop you, can I?" Roger asked after a short while.

Mello shook his head and Roger sighed. "Very well. Go out into the world, alone."

Mello was amused. Did the old man really think the guilt trip was going to work? They'd studied these types of mind manipulation in their first week of psychology. Mello nodded curtly before striding out the door. He had a lot of packing to get done and a lot of people to get back in contact with….

(X)

"Mello, I refuse. We are not flying out to LA on a whim." Near said, twisting a rubiks cube delicately.

"It's not a whim. I have contacts there." Mello said, rolling his eyes, as he pulled his leather jacket around him tighter. The little apartment where they had set up operations was cold, but it was cheap and the owner didn't seem to care that the residents were far under the legal age to own an apartment.

"Illegal, mafia contacts, who will remember a child rather than a young adult, might I add. That's hardly the greatest impression we want to make when we present our evidence to the American government. Here, I gathered these resources from a bunch of criminals whom we really should have arrested. How's that going to be greeted?" said Near tightly.

"Well, hacking into most of the world's major databases is hardly impartial, law-abiding work." added in Matt, who had tagged along on their trip once he'd heard that the two were leaving. Mello had objected severely; Matt might have been his best friend, but he wasn't going to involve him in something life-threatening. Not that Matt or Near had given him much of a choice in letting Matt tag along. At least they'd declined Linda's offer to come along. That would have been a nightmare.

"Anyway, we can hardly go through the legal route when Kira has the world's governments hooked around his finger." Matt added, as he turned back to his computer where he was currently working on some coding for some new innovative technology that he wanted to sell and get money from selling it.

"That's only a rumour." Near said, delicately.

Mello snorted as he leant back in his chair, balancing his laptop precariously on his knee. "Are you joking? The politicians are all terrified. Especially since the killings started to get more and more concentrated these past few days. Kira hasn't made any forays into politics yet, but the moment he does, they'll buckle under the fear, and you know it. You're the one who aced the foreign affairs test. Don't tell me you don't know the basic instincts of a politician? Cover arse and get out of there filthy rich."

Matt snorted and Near rolled his eyes, as he threw the rubiks cube aside. "As you said, Kira has not made a move into the political world, which means that as for now, it's just a theory. However, the moment that he does…I'm sure that your statements will prove to be accurate. Have we managed to put together an accurate timeline of Kira's movements so far?"

Mello frowned at his screen. "Kind of. I've got most of his debut movements as announced by L and by the police force and got a mapping of L's known movements up until the NPA taskforce split off from the main police movements on 31st of December 2003. From there, we have to put together pieces, because the Japanese online database ceases to be useful. So I was thinking, what would I do if I was L? The police were leaking information, so I would have split off the loyal ones but then what?"

"Meet them in person." Near completes quietly.

Mello frowns. "That's really unlikely, though. We're his successors, and I've only ever seen him once and you've never met him at all. The chances that he would just reveal himself to common policemen-"

"Is very high." Near says again. "Look at the transcript for the ICPO meeting. He said that he needed police cooperation. Not just the information which he could have easily asked for or hacked or for their manpower when he came close to capturing Kira; he says that he needs their help on a day-to-day basis."

"Still, it's unlikely that he would reveal his face on a whim. That's forever. You don't just forget meeting someone like L." Mello said, with a bitter laugh. How could he forget meeting L? With his messy black hair and deep, penetrating eyes…no, you wouldn't forget something like that in a hurry. He'd make a lousy spy, that was for certain.

"But if he was forced into it?" asked Matt.

"What do you mean?" asked Mello.

"Well, think about it. Didn't a whole bunch of Japanese police quit?" he asked, turning around from his software design.

"Yeah, due to primal fear for their lives. What point are you trying to make?" asked Mello, tapping his fingers on his coat.

"Yeah, but not just that. The transcripts aren't exactly the most genial in their comments to L, are they?" Matt said.

"Yes, because they're jealous that they can't do what L can. You still aren't making your point obliquely." Mello said, feeling impatient. He briefly wondered if Matt was trying to spare his feelings by trying to lead him to the conclusion that had seemed so obvious to him, but shook it off. Matt never gave Mello any slack, it was one of the reasons Mello tolerated him; he didn't care that Mello was second. If Mello was being dumb, he'd call it out. No, this slow reveal was just to drive Mello crazy.

"I think what Matt is trying to say, is that the dislike of L might have turned into fear. Put yourselves in their shoes, Mello. 12 people just died, whose identities were only known to the US government and L. These 12 people were also tailing the police, which indicated that L didn't trust them at all. What would you feel in that situation?" Near said, as he pulled at his hair.

"Betrayal…and of course, suspicion, because they'd think that L was the person who caused those deaths. They'd try to overthink things to attempt to be clever and therefore deduce that Kira is L or that L is a fake or that L isn't trustworthy. Therefore, to gain their trust, he'd reveal himself." said Mello putting the pieces together, quickly, now that they'd practically been fed to him. He was a little annoyed that it had taken him this long to see it, but he excelled in other areas.

"Anyway, moving on from there, there's a large gap where there is seemingly a lack of activity from L. Before we attempt to analyze what might have been achieved there, I'd like to lay down all of the events that we know happened." Mello says, as Near seems to be on the verge of saying something. "On the 13th of April, the second Kira's first TV broadcast occurs, a huge van crashes into Sakura TV, the broadcast is stopped then a huge police barricade is created and someone is seemingly escorted out from behind it. Police reports from the NPA confirm that it was the Deputy Director Yagami that was escorted out. He'd apparently suffered a heart attack a few days before and rushed in from the hospital to get there."

"Sorry to interrupt," said Matt, "But just to be sure, Yagami was in the Task force for catching Kira, right? And he survived a heart attack from Kira? Isn't that a little suspicious? From that, I would garner that Kira is closely connected with Yagami, right? Because they'd make a half-hearted attempt at killing him, but wouldn't actually do it, because they liked him?"

"Right, that's true," Mello said, "But think about it? Why attack Yagami alone? Why not the other five that were in the taskforce? If you were Kira, why would you attack the person that's closely related to you and then not go on to attack the others? No, from his medical records, he's always had a risk of heart attacks anyway, from his high blood pressure. This was a coincidence."

"Or Kira making a point." said Near quietly. "He could have targeted Yagami to say, _'I have absolute authority over your lives. You live and die by my mercy.' _Another way of trying to make it seem like he is God, which is the impression he's been attempting but failing to create."

"Right," Matt interjected, "If he were really God, he wouldn't have been bothered by Lind L Tailor's announcement on TV. By reacting to that and to the FBI agents, it's obvious that Kira's human and can be found and stopped."

"Anyway," Mello said, cutting over Near's response to Matt's remark, "Back to the timeline. After that, we basically get the original Kira and the Second Kira exchanging notes over live TV. Which is kind of amusing and annoying once you think about it. Not, of course, that Sakura TV complained overtly about the coverage."

"Of course, it's not the real Kira." said Near, finally getting a word in edgeways, despite Mello's childish attempts to cut him off. "The real Kira wouldn't be foolish enough to reply. No, that's fabricated by L and the taskforce."

"At least, that's what we presume." Mello said, "We can't be sure whether Kira would or wouldn't do. He's a difficult criminal to try and profile, because he's hypocritical. He punishes the really huge criminals and claims to stand for justice, yet he kills petty criminals and complete innocents when it comes down to it."

"I suppose it being Kira makes more sense, especially when you take into account, that L sends a message to the Second Kira asking him/her to work with the police." said Matt, as he pulled up a copy of Mello's timeline on his computer.

"No, it makes more sense for L to have fabricated both." said Near, as he reaches for a few building blocks which are scattered around the floor. "By using Kira's identity, he makes the Second Kira reveal more about himself and maybe about the killing method. By using the identity of L, he can use the police and the legal implications to his advantage. It's unlikely that Kira would have been so oblique about some things, like his real intentions."

"Either way, when that message happens, we also hear about the suspected attack on the stadium on the 30th, when it is revealed that the diary entry was also sent over by the Second Kira." said Mello, as he pulled up the picture of the diary entry from one of the Kira fansites and sent it over to Matt. Near had a photographic memory, so there was no need to do that for him.

"Of course, around then, I'm pretty sure we can confirm that the Second Kira is a girl. There are hearts over the Is in the letter. Hearts!" Matt said.

"Unless the second Kira is trying to feed the police a mental image. Don't take things on the first level. You have to think things through." said Near boredly. "This is such an obvious harkening towards being a woman, that it may well be a man."

"Yes, but," Mello argued, 'The second Kira's actions were fairly stupid. We can't rule out the idea that the Second Kira is dumb and can't actually see the fallacy in there. It may well be a she."

'Thing is," Near said, as his block tower peaked at his nose, "The Second Kira was clever enough to not leave fingerprints, to deliver the letter from different locations at each point and from a busy area, at that. We simply cannot rule out that they're hiding their intelligence."

"Look, their gender isn't even that important." Matt said, looking a little annoyed by how easily Near and Mello had managed to pick sides on a passing comment. "Let's just call Kira an 'it' and be done with it."

Mello snorted a little and leant back. "Okay, disregarding their gender, we get a sudden peak in the police activity on the 27th on analyzing the Second Kira's fingerprints again. There's a fibre there that leads to a carpet that was very exclusively made for the models of Yoshida. And L sends police over to the houses of those models to search them and one of them is arrested for having the same materials in their house that were used for making the video. The identity of this person is not revealed in the police reports."

"So someone is arrested, but they weren't Kira because it was never announced to the public. So they were released again?" asked Matt.

"No, it is too suspicious for it not to be Kira." said Near. "L must have been unable to prosecute the model and therefore set him or her free again, though most likely with surveillance."

"But, weren't you the one saying that the Second Kira was smart? They could have done the video filming at the model's flat or dumped the evidence at the model's flat to avoid their own suspicion. The model could have been genuinely innocent. We can't rule that out." Mello said, looking smug.

Matt leant back in his chair and started laughing. "I can see why your group projects were always failures. You just can't stop arguing, can you?"

"You must examine every possibility." said Near, but there was a tugging of a smirk at his lips.

Mello snorted. "Did you honestly think this was going to be smooth sailing, Matt? 10 solid years of dislike isn't going to just up and disappear." Though he too grinned easily afterwards.

"How about we continue this discussion later?" asked Near, "Preferably after some food that hasn't been cooked by any of us."

They all threw each other amused looks; their failed attempts of cooking had given Near food poisoning, nearly blown up their flat and had ended up with flour and spaghetti splattered over the floor and ceiling.

"I hear there's a good and cheap Indian place a couple minutes away by bike. You want me to go grab some food?" asked Mello. Anything to get out of their excuse for an apartment.

"Sure. Anything that hasn't got raw chillies in it. I'm not in the mood to get my tongue burnt off." said Matt, as he turned back to his computer.

"Dude, everything has chillies in it from an indian place. Try and give me a specification that isn't impossible, next time." said Mello, rolling his eyes, before walking out of the flat, pulling his leather jacket around him tighter.

(X)

"I'm telling you, we need to go to Japan!" Mello shouted again, as he stared down at the laptop. "We're making no progress! All we're doing is guessing what could have happened! Who did L imprison? Why was the Third Kira targeting business advocates? Does Kira's power transfer between people? Are shinigami as involved as it seems to be indicating towards? We're getting nowhere, and we just keep getting more and more questions! What we really need is to talk to one of the police officers!"

"And to the second L." said Matt, wrinkling his nose. "I wonder who was audacious enough to try and take his position."

"We've had both of these conversations before. Second L is most likely fabricated by the Japanese Task Force to stop panic, which would be fine, if he were actually achieving something. And how would we get policemen to talk to us in Japan? We're three children with nothing to our name." Near said sharply. "It's not logical to just jump to conclusions first. First, we need to gather more evidence."

"No, no we don't." Mello said, "What we need is a reputation. People would be willing to talk to someone they think is capable. We need to start solving cases like L and reach the top, before approaching the fake L and the Kira investigative team."

"What self-assured police-offer is going to hire children?" asked Matt, looking amused.

However, Near frowned pensively. "Mello has a point. If we gain a reputation as solving crimes, we would be recognized more easily. But, to solve the problem that Matt brought up, we'd need a trustworthy proxy."

"Xenia's eighteen already, right?" Mello said, stretching out easily.

Matt snorted. "And you think she'd willingly help us? Dude, she was the easily the most antagonistic kid there. She picked some kind of fight every other week. She hated it at Wammy's! Why would she help us?"

"However, she was in the running to be L. And she'll listen to me." said Mello smirking. "Let's just say, she'll do it for her best interests."

Near looked annoyed. "Blackmail? We'll blackmail one of our own fellow comrades?" he asked, his voice getting a little higher.

"Yes. This is serious, Near. This isn't another game of HackACME, where we've got to play by the rules. There are no rules now. We're playing our games in the real world now. And the stakes are a lot higher than extra credit and bragging rights." Mello said coldly.

"If we operate without a set of morals, we become as bad as the very criminals we attempt to catch." Near said, as he stood up. "I'm not your _boss_, Mello, but this isn't a unanimous decision. You won't contact Xenia. We'll find someone else trustworthy, who'll help us out of their own volition."

"Who!" Mello screeched. "Who's gonna help us? No one wants to catch Kira! They're all terrified! Kira's winning and everyone's self-centred and worried about their own safety! We're in this alone, Near, and if we want to take out Kira, we'll have to work on a set of standards that L couldn't stoop to! Because he didn't play in an underhanded manner, he fell! He lost the game! I refuse to lose this game, Near! My parents were killed by Kira, goddammit! So were yours! You can't honestly stand there and say that you don't want revenge for their deaths!"

Near turned around, sharply, on his heel. "I can barely recall them. I will not give up my morals for a fuzzy memory. And revenge is not justice. Try and remember that we're supposed to oppose Kira, not replace him!" Near said, his voice icy, and his face furrowed into a stern frown. "I'll find someone trustworthy in a legal manner."

(X)

"I dislike him." Mello says immediately after they come back from a trip to London.

"Just because he's American—" Near said and Mello rolled his eyes.

"Don't be an idiot. Matt's from America, and I'm just fine with that. No, I dislike the fact that he didn't seem to have any initiative. If he's to be a permanent and trustworthy proxy, he needs to be able to make decisions quickly and without our orders. He seemed a little too reliant on upper orders for a task force leader." Mello said, stretching as they got out of the taxi and paid the taxi-driver.

"Yes, well, I think your appearance put him off a little. Did you really need to dress like you were a prostitute?" asked Near, as they walked up the stairs to the apartment.

"If he can't deal with a bit of leather, then he's obviously not fit to be a proxy detective. He's going to see much worse stuff than this from criminals." said Mello, as he undid his leather jacket and grinned as he caught a glimpse of his leather-clad image in the reflection of their fridge. Damn, he looked intimidating.

"Yes." Near said shortly. "From the criminals. Not his employers. Frankly, he was already annoyed by the fact that his mysterious employers for the past year have been children, you didn't need to scare him even further!"

Matt laughed from where he was surrounded by almost eight computers. "The meeting with Carter didn't go well then?"

"Carter was admirably stoic in the face of two overly precocious children. However, Mello seems uncertain as to the selection of the proxy, for reasons I cannot discern." Near said shortly as he slumped to the floor.

"I don't like him." Mello reiterated as he grabbed some chocolate from the cupboard. "He gives me a bad feeling. Anyway, we've been doing fine for the past year with our network all over the world. Even the second L must have heard of us, by now. We don't need a personal proxy."

"But we do. We need to arrange a meeting with the Japanese Task Force and we need Carter to go as and meet with the Deputy Director. They have refused all sorts of direct contact, especially Watari. Which is strange, especially if they're trying to keep up the pretense of L being alive." Near mused.

"No, it would make sense," Mello said, as he snapped off a bit of his chocolate off, "From their perspective anyway. The world knows what Watari looks like, and them trying to fake Watari's appearance and mannerisms…they wouldn't be able to pull it off and they know it. Also, if someone is supposed to know Watari and then the proxy doesn't actually react? There are too many spaces left for errors without L's database and the taskforce are being cautious. It's the kind of plan that you and Elpheba liked to favour back at Wammy's."

"Which is why we want to surprise them." Near said.

"Agreed. The only thing on our side is the element of surprise. I just disagree that we need a proxy. Especially one like Carter. Also, if we want him to meet with the Task Force, and Kira is truly hidden there, it's likely that he'll die. And then you'd lose your older clone, which would be an awful shame." Mello finished and Matt snorted.

Near rolled his eyes as he threw a dart at the board hung to the wall. "And we were so close to a semblance of cooperation." The dart missed.

"The case in Sweden collapsed. The fake L got there first." said Matt, rolling his eyes.

Mello rolled his eyes. "That's irritating. But aren't we dealing that mission for the FBI as well? The one with the crop-circle deaths?"

"Yep." Matt says, popping the P. "But one of the FBI members figured it out while you two were out today."

Mello straightens. "Who?" he asks, a hint of excitement and annoyance in his voice.

"Some woman, called…lemme see. Halle Bullock. She figured it that it was a group of farmers nearby, because their crops were failing, to try and gain tourists. Normal crop-circles weren't doing it, so they decided to murder people too. They're in jail now. Bullock, who'd been living in the town for a little while, tricked the farmers into attempting to kill her with a bit of antagonizing and name-calling, which revealed their identities." Matt explains, as he taps his fingers on the side of his chair.

Mello leant back and grinned. "See now, that's what you'd want in a detective proxy. Someone who can make the move after gaining their information, without background prompting. Not like Carter."

"How about we hire both?" asked Near, twisting a lock of hair around his finger.

Mello blinked and stared at him. "What?" he asked, after a few moments of stunned silence.

"There will be several cases that need solving. We may need more than one proxy at a time. And Bullock will be better for the element of surprise when we approach the Task Force. I've heard of her before, she's a very capable FBI agent. We could use someone like her on our side, and you seem to approve of her. However, Carter fits the typical proxy mode, for when we merely need someone to relay our instructions. And he is more reliable." Near explains calmly, pulling his socks a little, not looking up from the floor.

Mello pauses and nods. "Fine. But I'll deal with her employment."

(X)

"The conference just ended, Mello." says Lidner, into her mike, lowly. It's an alias she'd chosen after being contacted by Mello, but she uses it in her everyday life. He can see the police leaving from ICPO conference from her cameras on her lapel pin. Rester, formerly Carter, is a representative of the USA and, because Halle is technically a British Citizen, despite working for the US, she falls under the British contingent.

"Go talk to Yagami." Mello says, as he snaps off some chocolate, leaning forward from where's he's perched on the sofa. They finally upgraded their apartment to somewhere that isn't permanently draughty and Mello's never been happier. He's finally discarded the huge leather jackets and sticks with light hoodies or like today, just his leather vest. "Be polite, we want to talk to him, not scare him off. Don't mention anything about L."

Matt's currently sprawled across the sofa, and Mello's resting his feet on Matt's back. Usually, Matt would protest, but he's monitoring cameras and playing Snake on his phone, despite Mello reprimanding him on several occasions. "Yagami doesn't seem to have any weapons. I'd be wary of the other kid though, Matsuda, he's the shooting champion for the NPA in three years running, and he's got a gun." Matt comments.

"Hmm, Matsuda. His face is like the Matsui person who was Misa Amane's manager after her disappearance for about 60 days." Near says, from where's he's crouched on his spinning chair. "Was he a part of L's investigation?"

Mello doesn't reply; no point in confusing Lidner who's hearing his every word, with an offstage conversation that's not relevant. They're just musings now, getting proof is damn harder than Mello thought it would be. Heck, everything about the real world is harder than he thought it would be.

It's surprising how easily L managed to rise to the top, when Mello really thinks about it and compares it to the luck that the three of them have had. Of course, Quillsh Wammy was the main difference between the three of them and L. Mr. Wammy was one of the most connected people in the world, rivaled only by the huge names like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zucherberg. His interpersonal relations were strong and he was probably the reason for L's success.

"Detective Superintendent Yagami." Lidner said and Mello's attention was turned to the screen. "My name is Agent Lidner. I work for Janus."

Janus was the name that the three of them had finally agreed on for their organization. The Roman god of doorways and choices had seemed fitting. They all had their individual codenames of course; Mello was Legba, Matt was Thoth (rhyming with Sloth; Mello had, of course, chosen it for him) and Near had somehow become Anansi.

"For Janus?" asked Yagami, "The detective?"

"Who else?" asked Lidner. "We have heard that you worked on the Kira Case. We would wish to speak to either you or another member of the Kira Task force."

"Good work with the royal we, I'm _sure_ that's intimidating him." Matt said. Mello didn't bother to relay his comment to her.

"It's not worked." said the Matsuda kid, "It's working. Therefore, we can't relay any information to you."

Lidner however, dealt with the brush-off smoothly. "Perhaps you will not want to see me, but someone on the Force will. Especially if we talk to the Japanese Government. After all, L is making next to no progress. We've been solving for a year and at a quicker rate than ever before. Once we are assigned to the Kira Case officially, you will have no choice but to give us that information. But that is not our intention. We only wish to make this a casual interview. A little background detail into the Kira Case."

Mello winced, that wasn't the way to go, and it showed. Yagami tensed immediately and Matsuda's hand seemed to move closer to his gun. Near threw Mello a significant glance but Mello shook it off. "She has people skills, Anansi, she'll regain their openness." He knows that Lidner will hear him. She'll need the confidence from his compliment, threatening them was a major screw-up, and she knew it.

"Are you threatening a member of the police?" asked Yagami.

"Not at all." Lidner said, and her voice sounded tired, rather than suave. Near groaned but Mello grinned. She had always been excellent at using society's stereotypes of women to her advantage. "It's merely that… my employers. They are driven by the urge to see justice served. And, I do not mean to undermine L, but his progress on this case is slow, and we want to solve it and place it in the ground as quickly as possible. We wish to help, but I admit, we are puzzled by a few points on the timeline and wish to piece together the clues of what happened."

"If we are to cooperate with you," Yagami says, straightening, despite his expression being soft, "Send your employer to come and talk to us. We despise subterfuge when dealing with a case like this."

"Detective Superintendent Yagami," Lidner says, straightening as well. "I ask of you this; if my employers cannot leave where they are, will you go to them?"

"Of course!" Matsuda says. When Yagami frowns at him, Matsuda whispers something.

"Turn the volume up, Matt, not all of us can read lips like you." Mello whispers, attempting to not faze Lidner. He knew that it was a skill that Matt had gained from playing videogames and pretending to be paying attention to Mello.

"He said that they'd done just that with L. Yagami says that it might be Kira attempting to trap them. Matsuda says that we seem legit. Yagami tells him that not taking first impressions as they go has saved his own life on occasions. Matsuda protests with the fact that L could have been Kira for all they knew at that point. Yagami concedes!" Matt narrates, not even looking up at Mello.

"Ms. Lidner," says Yagami, "We will meet with your employers. Both Matsuda-san and I will be there. Where and what time?"

"Lidner, ask them if now is convenient." Mello says and Near's eyes widen and he sits up with alarming speed, shaking his head. But Mello merely smirks as the two policemen agree.

Near throws Mello a baleful look and seems to curl in on himself for a moment, before becoming completely impassive. There is no emotion left and Mello feels creeped out. He's seen this change occur pretty often nowadays, if he's honest, and really should be used to it, (Lord knew that he too put on his own mask of madness when confronting others) but still, knowing that Near could be somewhat tolerable in one moment and then seeing him being replaced by a robot, never failed to hurt a little.

Lidner says that she will accompany them.

"Rester," Near intones into his headset, "Follow them, make sure no one else goes after them."

"Don't come in behind them though, Rester; just keep watch outside of the building." Mello adds, "We don't want to scare them too much."

Matt snorts. "Better get rid of the equipment then? Doubt they'd trust us too much if they saw that we'd been spying on them."

"Don't get rid of it, merely turn it off." Mello said, "The equipment can add a professionalism look to the whole thing."

"I didn't you that you bought into Feng Shui and interior decoration, Legba." Lidner murmured into her mic.

"Appearances are everything in this field of work, so I'd suggest you stop talking to an invisible voice and focus on your surroundings, Lidner." Mello retorted as he moved his feet from Matt's back, to the sofa, before jumping off with his usual lithe grace.

The computers were swiftly moved and organized behind them and Mello turned off all of the screens as he grabbed his huge rolls of paper and spread it out across the floor.

Near stared just a little, looking a little bemused as Mello weighed down corners with rubiks cubes that had been taken from Near's little collection. "I thought you'd done this all electronically." He deadpanned and Mello rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but having it on paper as a backup is more efficient. Anyway, it's more tangible and it helps me think about this in a more coherent way. Not everyone can lace a case into a structure made of sugar cubes and stray dice." said Mello as he added a quick sketch of Yagami and Matsuda to the L Task force section. He wasn't as great an artist as Linda had been, but he'd decided to take Art instead of Music at Wammy's House and he'd picked up a little.

"Yes, but, it's a little excessive, isn't it?" asked Matt, as he switched off his computer and started playing Mario Bros on his Gameboy.

"What is it, criticize M-Legba day?" asked Mello sarcastically. He could hear Lidner snicker on the other side and Mello hissed quietly. "Will you bloody focus on the policemen, Lidner? They aren't stupid."

There was a knock on the door and Mello groaned, no wonder she was snickering. She could probably hear him from both the feed and through the walls. Mello yanked the door open and let a single eyebrows rise as he waved them in, a more than put-upon expression on his face. Lidner's eyes were amused, though, to her credit, her face was impassive. The policemen seemed to gawp at Mello a little, especially since his leather was shining in the sun's rays. Mello quietly shut the door.

"I'm Legba." He said coldly. "You must be Yagami-san and Matsuda-san. I believe you use Asahi-san and Matsui-san on a daily basis?"

"How do you know so much?" asked Matsuda, looking a little scared.

"It's fairly obvious to piece together." said Matt, from where he was playing. He still hadn't gotten up off the sofa. "You just need to look at the holes in the public story and fill them in. Thoth, by the way."

The two policemen started and looked towards the area where a large amount of paper, Matt and Near were waiting.

"Would you take a seat, gentlemen?" asked Near. "There's plenty to discuss and plenty of questions we must ask. And you may call me Anansi."

"But you're just children." said Matsuda again and the Superintendent Yagami elbowed Matsuda sharply and took a seat.

"Thank you. I must however, reference to Matsuda's question, despite it lacking in tact. You are very young to be continuing this line of work." said Yagami and Near merely gazed coolly at him.

"What does age matter?" he asked, as he pulled at a strand of hair. "It's capability and willpower that matter above physical restrictions like age. But I must ask you to examine our timeline for a little while and help us fill in any gaps that we have been unable to deduce."

The two detectives knelt down on the floor to examine Mello's timeline. For a brief moment, he wondered if his handwriting was legible and if it looked as girly as Matt had always said that it had, but he waved it away quickly as he leant against the wall next to Lidner. Her phone buzzed and as Matsuda exclaimed about how amazing they'd been to get all this information, Mello leant over Lidner's shoulder to read the text from Rester.

_No one has followed either me or the policemen. The place is clear. Waiting outside the building for further instructions. _

Mello pinched Lidner's phone as she made to alert Near and quickly texted back to Rester.

_Keep waiting and keep watching. Make it look casual. You're welcome to do whatever you wish, as long as you stay vigilant and unsuspicious. Legba. _

After sending the message, he tossed the phone back to Lidner who glared at him. Mello merely raised an eyebrow and mouthed "I pay you."

She frowned and mouthed back, "Touché," with an annoyed look on her face. "Maybe I should resign."

"You wouldn't dare." Mello mouthed with a smirk, "How else would you satisfy your need for adventure?"

Lidner was about to answer when Matsuda gasped. Mello quickly scanned the situation, it seemed that he'd read something he hadn't liked.

"Chief. They know about the…y'know." Matsuda said, his voice, an octave higher.

"You mean the Death Note?" Mello asked, looking a little bored. "That was easy to put together. CCTV footage can be very useful for that sort of thing."

"But we deleted that!" Matsuda said, looking terrified.

"There are always imprints left behind on the internet." said Matt, looking up from his Gameboy for a moment, before reaching for a pad of paper and a pen from the coffee table next to the sofa. "Let me put it this way, I could write a message on the paper here," Matt scribbled something on the pad, then ripped away the note. "I could burn this information and effectively destroy its entire existence. But, the information still remains on the background." Here, Matt rubs his pen along the paper, and the scribbles shows up as a white imprint. "It's one of the oldest detective tricks in the book. The same thing happens on the internet or any kind of operating system. You can delete the file, but you'll leave a negative lying around, and any skilled computer person can remake the file from the imprint it leaves behind."

Mello grinned; he'd forgotten why all of the younger kids had flocked to Matt at study sessions. For all his laziness and not caring about his own ambition, he was very good at explaining stuff. Better than Mello, who got intensely frustrated when they couldn't understand and often stormed off and punched the wall in an attempt to get the pent-up energy out of his body.

"Yes, an elaboration on the Death Note would be helpful. A book that kills people if their names are written on it. That's how Higuchi explains it in any case. However, one thing that escapes me, is how police officers seemed to react to something behind the car. Monster, I believe you were shouting, Yagami-san. It was…perplexing." Near said, twisting his hair around his finger, looking annoyed.

There was a stony silence from the older man.

"Was it a shinigami?" asked Mello from where he was slouching against the wall.

"Wha—" Matsuda said, his head whipping round. He stopped himself fairly quickly but Mello smirked, he'd caught them.

"It was obvious in hindsight. Kira sent L messages through the criminals in prison. 'L, do you know, shinigami love apples.' It might have been a joke on Kira's part, but then it comes up later as well. The second Kira communicates again with the first Kira using the cipher shinigami as a distraction. Obviously, with the revelation of the Death Note, the Aoyama meeting on the 22nd was the actual place where Kira and the Second Kira met." Near fills in, duly.

Mello scowls a little, that had been his thunder that Near was stealing, but in the two years that the two had been forced to work together, Mello was starting to concede a little bit of his pride. Lord knew that he'd needed to, or they'd never get anywhere. They'd all conceded little things for the greater cause. And, if Mello was honest with himself, working with the younger boy wasn't as distasteful as Mello had imagined. Even if they drove each other up the bend so often that the neighbours had stopped complaining altogether and seemed to be purchasing a lot of ear-plugs.

"Yes," Yagami says, "You are correct. There was a shinigami attached to the Death Note that was obtained by the Japanese Task Force."

"And how did the first L react to this?" asked Mello, pulling at his glove in pensive thought. Usually, his tics were what his chocolate addiction was for, but he didn't want to scare the policemen, just make them wary.

The police officers were silent and in mild shock. Matt rolled his eyes. "What exactly do you think we're going to do with this information, gentlemen?"

Matsuda looked uncomfortable. "Look, there are many chances that you could be Kira—"

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Mello snaps, "If one of us were Kira, you'd be dead already. We know your names and your faces are easy to obtain. We want to bring Kira to justice as much as you do. So, your support would be appreciated."

Near nods calmly, "Agreed. And, there is more risk in our meetings with you. We know that the first L was killed by someone who knew his name and face. And we know that the second Kira can kill by face alone. By simply appearing in front of you, the very people whom L revealed his identity to, we are risking our lives. Our codenames will mean nothing if one of you had Second Kira's power."

Yagami looks at them. "How old are you?" he asked again and Mello rolls his eyes.

"This again? Does it really matter?" he asks, stretching the glove harshly, until it is close to ripping.

"No, but I am curious as to the ages of the heads of Janus. After all, Janus is now the second best detective in the world, and is very close to taking over L." said Yagami and Mello didn't react. They hadn't exactly tried to hide their competence, but that was impressive deductive skills nonetheless.

"17." Mello said boredly, as he pulled at his long hair, knowing that he was starting to act like Near without his chocolate to keep his hands busy. "Thoth's 16 and Anansi's 14. Once more, I reiterate, _it doesn't matter_. What matters is catching Kira and sending him to justice, for his victims. "

Matsuda looks shocked and Mello resist the urge to roll his eyes. Even Yagami looks shaken.

"Can we redirect your attention to the first L's reaction to the shinigami?" asked Near, looking equally bored as Mello feels.

"I have a daughter your age… 17 years old and fighting crime; how crazy it is, this world." mutters Yagami in Japanese, before he delves into the timeline.

"I do hope that is he isn't trying his hand at matchmaking," Lidner murmurs, looking amused and Mello glares at her.

"You're dismissed for now." He says icily. "Take the day off. Enjoy yourself," he finishes, his tone indicating that she do the entire opposite.

She smirked, before walking out the door. Mello rolls his eyes, she may have been the best proxy choice, but he'll be damned if interacting with her is pleasant. Heck, he's damned anyway. Kira's shockingly intelligent and it seems that however fast Near and Mello run after him, he's twenty steps ahead. Shaking his head, Mello joins the policemen at the timeline, as they slowly explain just how shocked L was and the types of questions he asked.

(X)

"So, the police task force are really useless, aren't they?" said Matt, laughing a little, as the policemen left.

"Not useless." Mello said, "You saw how intelligent Yagami was. A little straight-laced sure, but he's smart. Not sure about the other one, Matsuda, but the task force themselves aren't incompetent. L is. Or at least, he's keeping them from achieving their potential. Anyway, that doesn't matter, we've got all the information we need from them."

"It was an enlightening conversation." Near says, with a smirk, as he starts constructing a card tower, "When asked about the two individuals, the Matsuda person said that they'd been cleared of all suspicion by L, with some test that was put in place by Yagami. The wording of the test was what interested me. He said, 'I'll kill you, then kill myself.' Interesting, is it not?"

"It's not the wife if the wording is quite that way. The shame would have been a little less. Not any of the more distant relatives either. I'm thinking offspring. His kids. One of his kids was Kira." Mello answered, both glad and annoyed that Near had picked up on that particular nuance. Dealing with people was his talent.

"Hold on, slow down! For those whose brains aren't jumped up on sheer genius, what are you on about?" Matt said, looking annoyed, as he swung his legs around, off the couch. The video game was abandoned on the arm and he looked thoroughly interested.

"The man is a traditionalist." Mello says, "And so, he'll hold to the concepts of honour and shame. He does hold to the concepts of honour and shame and responsibility. There would be no reason for Yagami to kill himself after killing the suspect unless Yagami feels he couldn't live without them. It's not his wife, because he wasn't a romantic, we saw that. And that kind of besottedness wouldn't happen with anyone else. Therefore, the faked suicide is fueled by shame, the shame that one of his own flesh and blood was Kira? Seems the most likely."

Near and Matt both looked vaguely impressed. Mello merely smirks and snaps off a bit of his chocolate as Matt grabs his laptop. "Also, he spoke with affection of his daughter when he mentioned her, and seemed shocked that she'd even know anything about crime. Not the suspect for Kira. He has two kids, so it's got to be the other one."

"The older son. Light Yagami. No picture to accompany the face, he's very cautious then. He was Freshman Speaker at To-Oh University, Junior Tennis champion and the top student of Japan. Frighteningly clever and aspires to be a detective when older, having already solved cases for the NPA? He seems like the model to fit Kira's actions." Matt dictates, as he seems to be hacking into something.

Near peaked up. "Hold on, did you say Yagami Light?"

"Yeah, that's right. Why?" Matt says and Mello frowns as Near almost runs for a computer and seems to scan through something. He smiles, devilishly. It doesn't suit him.

"Yagami Light was one of the people that Raye Penber was trailing when he died. That's why L started investigating him. But, the interesting part, is that he disappeared for a period of about 4 months from his university. No one knew why or how, but he returned again, after 4 months, completely up to date, as if he'd never been gone. It struck me as odd, especially since he'd claimed to be ill, but no one's ill for four months straight. Goodness knows that Petrov tried." Near recites, double-checking the information. Mello smirks.

"Then Yagami Light is Kira. And the model Misa Amane was the second Kira. Her disappearance from the public eye coincided with his." Mello said. "So now we need to get the actual proof that they are Kira."

"I think we may require the help of the other Task Force members now," Near said, pulling at his hair, placing the final card on the tower. "The father will find it difficult to believe, especially after Yagami Light managed to outwit the evidence under the first L's watch. So, we need someone else. And I refuse to use the Matsuda person."

"I agree." Mello said, for once, without any kind of bitterness, "Matsuda was too flighty. We need someone more dependable."

"We must place doubt about Light Yagami in the hearts of the investigators. They must doubt him enough to come to us and not the other way around. We must place Yagami Light in situations where his actions will either be suspicious or detrimental to Kira's cause." Near says, standing up.

"As inspiring as this is, how exactly do you plan to do it? We have all the information we need, we even have a reputation, but I can't see a plan where this would work." Matt said, tapping a gloved finger to his cheek..

Mello turned around and slung his arm over Matt's shoulders. "We'll figure it out. Without the second L's help. We're going to win. Just you see."

"Perhaps." Near said, "Getting overconfident is where we will be caught out. We should make a plan."

Mello sighed and moved his arm off Matt's shoulders. "I suppose so. But, I don't think making a plan on the eve of acquiring the information is necessary."

"On the contrary, it's very necessary." Near said, "The investigators are bound to tell the Second L and the rest of the taskforce about the meeting with us. The news will leak to Kira, as it always has, and he'll be on the alert and he'll attempt to try and meet us or learn more about us. We need to be on the offensive immediately."

Mello sighed and got up from the couch. Clutching his chocolate between his teeth, he headed to the kitchen and flicked the kettle on, while grabbed three mugs.

"Mello?" asked Near, looking a tad worried.

"Do you want sugar in your coffee this time, Matt?" Mello asks, placing the chocolate on the table as he manhandles their 3 kilo bag of ground coffee out of the cupboard.

"Three spoons, please." Matt answers and Mello turns to Near who's come into the kitchen, looking at him a little strangely.

"Well then, Near?" Mello's never seen Near drink coffee, but there's a first time for everything.

"Look, it needs to be done, Mello and I'm sorry if it offend—"

"I'm not offended. I would be pretty stupid if I was offended by something as slight as that." Mello interrupts. "It's just, if we're going to be up all night, we're going to need this. Even you, sleepless."

Near seems to smile a little. "One sugar please. Though, I admit, this is my first time breaking the rule of no drugs."

"You always were straight-laced." Mello said, as the water boiled. "Anyway, caffeine's a stimulant, not a depressant. If it were alcohol, that would be a definite no. We need to be on form tonight, if we're to outwit Kira."

Near nods and takes a seat at their kitchen table. Matt's video game noises start up again, and Mello almost rolls his eyes. He hands a cup to Near and yells to Matt, "If you don't come fetch your coffee, I'll throw it at you!"

Near takes a sip and pulls a face. "I don't know how you stand this, Mello. It tastes disgusting."

"That's the point," Matt says, as he picks up his cup without looking up from the video-game. "It's so disgusting that it forces you to be awake. We buy the worst-tasting brand of coffee we can find just so that it keeps us awake. Apparently L used to buy the same brand, according to the Wammy databases that Tamara managed to recreate."

Near snorts a little and stares down at the cup of coffee. "I always wondered why there was always an abnormal amount of sugar in the fridges when L used to visit, back before A killed herself. If the coffee tasted this bad, I think I finally understand why."

Mello laughs as he takes a long sip and Matt chokes on his as he too starts to laugh. It's not that funny, not really, but they've achieved so much in one night and they're going to continue to achieve a huge amount, they all need this.

"I hope we do win," Matt says, as he finishes his coffee, "It'll be a shame not to. Then I'll never have experienced a coffee that didn't taste like crap."

Mello laughs and leans back against the wall. "I think we should start with locking our databases off. Kira's going to try there first." And just like that, they were back to work.


	18. University Challenge

**Summary: Sayu Yagami is starting out at Wammy University, the most prestigious university in all of Europe, following in the footsteps of her father and her older brother, Light. Follow her adventures with dirty dishes, noisy neighbours, restless roommates and plenty more at the craziest and most liberating school Sayu's ever been to.**

Sayu sighed as she pulled at her skirt. How she hated stairs. She hated stairs with that same passion that she hated the wind and alcohol. She also slightly disliked English Weather, because it never stopped being windy. Still, if Light had already put up with it for three years, she could do the same.

Sayu blinked as she gazed at the door in front of her. Room 345 of the Kavli Building. Looked like she was in the right place. Gods, but she was nervous. Her first day at the most prestigious university in Europe….No one could accuse her of not aiming high. She was following in the footsteps of Light. Sayu quickly tugged at her skirt and brushed down her jacket and knocked on the door.

The door quickly opened and she was greeted by a girl with short brown hair tied into a pigtail. Her face and hands had pencil smudgings all over it and she wore unkempt denim dungarees. "Hi! You must be my new roommate! My name is Linda Freeman!" the girl chirped happily, sticking a hand out.

Sayu bit her lip and smiled. She didn't take the hand though. All of their family had a dislike for the unclean. "Yes, that's right. My name's Sayu Yagami. It's nice to meet you."

Linda glanced down at her hand and quickly removed it with a laugh. "Sorry about that, I forget that I'm pretty messy sometimes. By the way, you got the email a couple of days back, right?"

"What email?" asked Sayu as they entered the room.

"Because of the increase in applications over the past two years for living, all first-year applicants dormmates now share an apartment between three people and not two." said Linda, pulling a face. "And our other roommate is a little crabby, if you get my gist. There are two bedrooms and she insists on sleeping in her own room, so she gets the smaller room. We'll be sharing living and sleeping accommodations now." She explained, as Sayu walked into their apartment.

It was really rather nice and airy. The kitchen was large, which was great because Sayu loved cooking. And from the look of it, Linda didn't look like the sort to be able to cook. The living room was pretty big too, but it was chock-a-block with art projects. It was slightly irritating, coming from a very neat house, but Sayu wasn't too fussed. It might have been slightly untidy, but it wasn't dirty. Yet.

"So," asked Linda, as she washed her hands, "What majors are you taking?"

"Criminal Justice and Sociology. I'm focusing on the Psychology front though. The whys and hows are what fascinate me." Sayu said, as she unloaded most of her stuff into their bedroom. "What about you? Art related obviously, but what specifically?"

"Traditional Stuff. Painting, Drawing, Ceramics, the works. I mean, there are some amazing digital artists, but it gives me more satisfaction begin able to do what they do on a computer, with a paintbrush and patience, you know?" said Linda, as she took some of Sayu's stuff and started to help her unpack into their shared closet.

"That's cool." said Sayu, feeling a little awkward. She was pretty bright and lively around her friends, but Linda was such a stark contrast to the giggly but affluent girls she'd known back in Tokyo. Sayu felt pretty shy.

Linda sighed as she checked her watch. "Wanna grab lunch? They have Subway close by here."

Sayu nodded. "Usually I'd cook, but I don't really feel like it today."

Linda's eyes brightened. "You cook? Yes! We won't starve from eating Cup of Soup all the time!"

Sayu laughed. "Where's our other roommate anyway? She should come too. We'll have a roommate bonding lunch."

Linda pulled a face but placed a fake smile on her face as she knocked on the only closed door in the whole apartment. "Hey, uhh, Kiyomi? Sayu, the other roommate and I are going out for lunch. Do you want to come?"

"It's Takada-san." said a girl with short black hair as she stuck her head out of the door. "In Japan, we don't call people we've just met their first names. It's a sign of respect, something _you_ obviously don't have."

Sayu frowned. "Hey, we're in a different country now. We're in the UK. I'm from Japan too, but when in Rome, do as Romans do. Not everyone here will be able to keep to the manners of Japan. Expecting them to keep to the manners of Japan is foolish." She rebuked Takada in Japanese.

Takada sniffed. "You're 'Sayu', I expect. Surname?" she asked, ignoring the language switch.

"It's Yagami." Sayu said, crossing her arms. "I expect that this attitude means that you won't be joining us for lunch."

"You wish I'd join such uncultured individuals." Takada said, rolling her eyes. "I said this to Freeman and I'll say it to you. Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours. I don't like this arrangement any more than you do."

And with that, the door slammed in Sayu's face, quite firmly. The two girls blinked. "Well then," Sayu said, gritting her teeth, "Let's go Linda. I don't want to spend any more time in the company of an individual who's so stuck up she can't bear to see the world outside of her little bubble."

(X)

"So you're from Japan?" asked Linda, as they sat down to eat their sandwiches. "That's quite a commute, just for a prestigious school."

"It's the best school in all of Europe! Why would I not want to come here? I do admit, it's a little bit of a culture shock, but as you can see, my English is pretty much perfect and you can teach me some of the slang." Sayu explained, as she neatly spread out her napkin on her lap. "And well, my brother's in his final year here and he said that it's been the best four years of his life. I really want that experience."

Linda smiled. "That's nice. A family of genii!" she teased.

"Okaa-san's over the moon. She was so happy when I got the acceptance letter." Sayu said with a smile. "Though I wouldn't call myself a genius, by any stretch. My brother is a genius. I just work very hard."

"To me, that's what being a genius is. Art wasn't just something I could do from a young age. I loved doing it from a young age, but my first drawings are pretty awful. It's that time and effort that you put into something. Being able to love a topic from a young age and put passion into it from a young age? That's being a genius, because you already know your future's path as a child." Linda explained, as she bit into her sandwich and an onion escaped her teeth's grasp.

Sayu smiled. "You know, I didn't know what I wanted to do from a young age. I still don't. But…I guess…I'm getting there. Something to do with criminals."

Linda laughed. "That's pretty vague. Not like my dad was much better at our age. He said that his only specification was about how much it would pay."

Sayu laughed. "So do you have any other siblings then?"

Linda shook her head. "Nah, it's just me at home. Me and my Dad. He actually now works as a historian for Windsor Castle. He's barely ever at home, which meant for a lot more creative freedom."

Sayu laughed. "That's good. Creative freedom wasn't really a part of our lives. My brother and I got good grades and we had friends outside of school, but we never really had extra-curricular activities. I ran the school newspaper and Light was Junior Tennis Champion. But you know, they never really appealed to us."

Linda frowned. "That's kind of sad. At least here, you'll get a lot of freedom!"

Sayu smiled. "Yes, it should be a lot of fun."

(X)

"Haha, see ya Linda! You're going to be doing dishes tonight, okay?" yelled Sayu as she walked away towards the Liebspiech Auditorium. Her first lecture in the Criminal Psychology. She was nervous and excited at the same time. Her Japanese friends had accused her of copying Light and her father when she'd told them her majors, but really, she did find this all fascinating. Why would people would go onto be criminals? What was their true motivation? Really, it fascinated her in every way.

Sayu arrived at the auditorium and groaned. It was almost completely full. Sayu's usual seats at the back were all occupied. In fact, only the front row had vacancies and those were at the spots where you couldn't even see the projector that well. Sayu pulled a face and moved down to the front to try and get a slightly decent seat.

In the middle however, there seemed to be perfect spot to see both the teacher and the projector. However, somebody was already sitting there. Sayu sighed, she would have to deal with the awkwardness; she wanted a good seat!

"Hello, I'm sorry, can I sit here? All the good spots are taken." Sayu said, as she stood next to the white haired boy. He was wearing cool blue sweats and a loosely buttoned white shirt. His eyes were covered by blue-tinted glasses and he seemed intent upon his odd sudoku rubiks cube.

"As long as you're quiet during the lecture." The boy said, his voice almost inaudible.

Sayu smiled gratefully. "Thank you." She placed her stuff out and as she took the seat, realized why he wanted her to be quiet. There was a tape recorder set up, as his left hand seemed to be bandaged.

"My name's Sayu. What about you?" she asked.

"Nate River. But I prefer Near." He said, not looking up from the puzzle.

"What courses are you taking?" she asked, as she loaded her fountain pen. "I'm taking a major in Criminal Justice and a minor in Sociology."

At this, Near looked up. "That is exactly what I am taking. Except, I have a second major of Engineering Mathematics."

Sayu felt her eyes widen. "A double major! In three difficult courses! That must be a pain. My brother's doing a double major along with a minor and he's being driven up the bend. In a good way."

Near smiled a little. "I wasn't aware there was a good way to be able to be driven insane."

Sayu laughed. "According to Light, there is. But he was always a little deranged anyway."

Near smiled again, slightly wider this time. Just then, the professor came onto the podium and the lights dimmed slightly. Sayu flipped the page and started writing, her mind leaving the realm of the university hall and flying along the pages of the book, hearing and sensing only what the professor spoke….

(X)

Sayu sighed as she pulled at her skirt. Second day and she was lost. Che. She had no idea where she was going and Wammy's Campus was HUGE. Almost 700 acres of land was used to host all of the buildings necessary to teach all of the students.

Sayu blinked; up ahead were a couple of students heading in her direction. She'd have to ask them for directions and hope that they weren't first years like her.

"Hello, can you—Light!" Sayu gasped as she saw who the students actually were. She threw her arms around Light and he laughed gently.

"Hey Sayu! What are you doing here? Is it your free period?" he asked, as he held her out.

"I wish. I'm actually kind of lost. Do you know where the Franklin Auditorium in Panovsky building is? I've been walking around in circles for twenty minutes." Sayu asked, pulling a face.

Light laughed. "That sounds like something you'd do. It's over there." He said, pointing in the direction that Sayu had just come from.

"Light, who is this?" asked the guy with fly-away black hair next to Light. He was carrying a huge set of crime books and had square glasses that were gradually slipping down his face. He had the same dress sense as Light.

"This is my younger sister, Sayu. She's a first year here. Sayu, this is Teru Mikami, my friend. He's from Japan too." Light introduced with ease. "Mikami, you don't mind the detour to the Panovsky building? I'll take Sayu there myself. By the look on her face, she just came from there."

Sayu pouted. "You're so annoying, Light."

Light smiled and threw his arm around her with ease. He seemed a lot more relaxed here than he had ever done at home. He grinned. "How's it going so far then?" he asked in Japanese.

"Lessons are fascinating. My roommates are…interesting. I have two. Linda-chan is very nice, if a little messy. She's an artist type. The other one…Takada–san isn't nearly as friendly. If anything, she's downright standoffish." Sayu confided, agreeing to the language change.

Light smiled. "Don't worry, she'll probably warm up over the course of the year. My roommate was a little abrupt in my first year, but he warmed up soon enough."

"Takada?" asked Mikami, also in japanese. "As in Kiyomi Takada? With short black hair and tall heels?"

Sayu almost dropped her bag. "You know her, Mikami-senpai?"

"Yeah." He said, adjusting his books a little, "I'm currently her tutor buddy. She actually initially wanted to go to To-Oh University, but she was rejected. Wammy's accepted her, because she's very bright, but she dislikes being in a foreign country, since she's never been away from home before. That might explain some of the crabbiness."

Sayu pulled a face. "I see. That might explain some of it. She was very insistent about Japan's superiority. I guess I can kind of sympathize, but she was very rude to Linda-chan. I can't forgive that."

Light smiled. "She'll get over it. But if the frostiness gets too much to bear, you can come over to my dorm. Seinrich Building, 540. My roommate might be a little different to how I described him to okaa-san, but you know. Descriptive liberties."

Sayu laughed. Light really had a mischievous side that she loved. It was the side that had convinced him to flirt his way into a Hatsune Miku concert free of charge for her eleventh birthday. It was what had accompanied their frantic flight through Harajuku after slapping a famous pop-star for making Sayu cry. It was what made him pretend that he didn't know how to play tennis against someone arrogant before thrashing them resoundly.

"If you take the third left, you'll get to the room. Good luck!" Light said, as they entered the Panovsky building.

"Bye, Nii-san! It was a pleasure meeting you, Mikami-senpai!" Sayu said, as she rushed to her next class.

(X)

"Thank you Rester-sen—Professor Rester!" said Sayu, as she left his office. He taught criminal history and despite his intimidating height and almost monotone voice, he was one of the nicest professors she had, always willing to give out extra reading to those interested and recommend courses or job applications to his favourite students. Still, nearly everybody here was friendly and accepting, despite her occasional slips into Japanese. It was very nice.

"Hey Sayu!" yelled Linda, as she came out from the Bohr building. She seemed to be carrying a huge white canvas out of the door. "Think you could give me a hand?"

"What's this for Linda?" asked Sayu, as she shouldered her bags and took the other end of the canvas.

"The International Art Competition is coming to town and I need to do something impressive. I'm thinking of making something 3D look 2D. So many people do the other way, I just want to try and one-up them." Linda said, grinning devilishly.

"Linda-chan?" asked Sayu, feeling slightly bemused, "Do you ever actually create art with the purpose of looking beautiful or for fun? Every time I see you talk about your art, it's always to show someone else up or defy expectations. Why don't you just put your heart into it?"

Linda smiled sadly. "I want to get somewhere in life with art. That's nearly impossible. You have to be different from the masses. I have to put my heart into the art and be different at the same time if I want to achieve anything. And competition is the best way to put my soul or my heart into anything."

Sayu pulled a face. "I…I guess I can't talk. I just feel that it might be better if you truly wanted to create something for the joy of it."

Linda merely rolled her eyes. "That's unlikely. Are you going to cook again tonight, or should I order pizza?" she asked, rapidly changing the subject.

Sayu frowned. "I'll cook. Does spaghetti sound good?"

Linda smiled warmly. "That sounds fine, Sayu."

(X)

Sayu placed her pen down for the fifth time in ten minutes as the shouting next door resumed again. Her criminal history textbooks were dull enough without the additional noise, she could barely concentrate.

_The first letter from the Zodiac killer was sent to the Californian Police on August 1__st__ 1969. _Sayu looked up, frowning, as she heard a smash from the other side of their wall. Had someone just thrown something against the wall?

_The first letter from the Zodiac killer—_They were definitely swearing now, and violently too. That…didn't sound savoury in the slightest.

_The first letter from the Zodiac—_Sayu had not imagined the screech of pain. That sounded exactly when she and Nanyo-chan had been pulling each other's hair.

This…this was too distracting. She'd read the same sentence over four times.

BAM!

That was the last straw. Sayu stood up sharply. Linda, who was pulling faces at her paint palette looked up. "What's wrong, Sayu?"

"The neighbors." Sayu said, darkly.

Linda's face set into a grim smile. "They've been at it for twenty minutes now. Creativity doesn't come from violence."

Sayu sighed. "I'm going to go tell them to shut up or take it outside. I'm fed up of listening to them."

Linda's eyes widened. "Good luck with that."

Sayu walked out of the door and knocked on 347's door. The door swung open and Sayu was about to shout sharply when she blinked at Near. "Near?" she asked, feeling pretty confused.

"Sayu." He said, looking equally confused and a little weary.

"You live next door. That's…rather odd." Sayu said, shaking her head of the confusion. "Can you ask your roommates to shut up? My Criminal History textbook is dull enough without their noise."

Near's mouth twitched a little but shook his head. "I don't particularly want to get involved. They were throwing chairs at each other from what I last saw. I might not like the noise, but I like my life and my bones in their proper places better."

Sayu laughed dryly. "Don't worry then, leave it to me. I know how to defend myself."

Near's eyes widened a little but then he shrugged and placed his unbandaged hand in his hair and started twirling it. He led her into the flat, which was a lot messier than her own apartment. Two boys were shouting at each other in the middle of the room and there were chairs lying discarded at sides of the room. The boys themselves were pretty weird. One wore clothes that looked like they'd come from 'Leather Fetishes R US' and had shoulder length blonde hair. That was weird in itself. The other looked like he'd escaped from prison, with his striped shirt and messy auburn hair.

"Excuse me." Sayu said, crossing her arms over her chest and doing her best impression of her father's 'stern' face.

The two boys turned around and looked at her with a slight look of confusion. "Yes?" asked the blonde one, his voice in a perfect Queen's English, a voice that didn't match his appearance in the slightest.

"I live next door. For the benefit of Near, my roommates and all of the other people in this apartment complex who can no doubt hear you, I'd advise that you shut up or go scream at each other off campus. Most people here are trying to work." She said, making her voice clipped, sharp and as properly English as she could.

The two boys looked stunned into silence. She smiled at Near. "Thank you for that. See you tomorrow, Near."

Near merely lifted a hand and disappeared back into his apartment. Sayu left the room.

(X)

Sayu sighed. Two days later, the boys from next door had not learned their lesson. There was another shouting fest. Linda looked annoyed as she looked up from where she was currently fighting with a piece of plastic and some leather and a pair of tiny scissors.

"Do they never shut up or something?" asked Linda. "I mean, I dislike Takada, but I don't start shouting matches with her, do I?"

Sayu shrugged. "Don't ask me. I have no idea how Near puts up with them." She had told Linda everything about her little visit next door and Linda had been an eager listener. There was a knock on the door and Linda exchanged looks with Sayu. Sayu got up from her chair and opened their door.

To her surprise, Near was on their doorstep with a rather large machine in his hands. "Do you mind if I try to study here? I can't hear my recorder over their shouting." He asked, looking slightly irritated.

Linda smiled sympathetically from where she was struggling with her leather. "You're welcome to try, but it's not much quieter here."

Near sighed as he heard them shout again through the walls. "This is irritating. I knew that roommates were supposed to be rather annoying, but Matt and Mello are truly frustrating."

Sayu suddenly smiled. "We can't study in here, but if you can move your stuff Linda, I know somewhere where we can. The Seinrich building isn't far from here, right?"

"I can't move this, but I have other work to do, as far as Art history is concerned. I'll take that with me. Give me a minute." She sad, as she left the piles of materials and darted towards their shared room.

Sayu beckoned for Near to take a seat and they sat in the room awkwardly. "Ummm," Sayu began after a few seconds of awkward silence, "So how are your assignments going for Professor Lidner's class?"

Lidner taught them the responses to crime, as far as local, national and international police groups worked. It was an interesting topic taught by one of the best professors on campus, but it was a topic that Sayu already knew well, because of her Father' work and Light's interest in it.

"Well." Near said. Sayu shifted uncomfortably.

"I see." Sayu said, nodding as she gazed back down at her lap. Gosh, how she hated uncomfortable silences. "Near? Can I ask what happened to your am?" she asked, making her voice slightly gentler. The question had been playing on her mind.

"It's currently in the process of healing from a fracture." Near said. "An unfortunate accident."

Sayu frowned. "Does it hurt a lot then?" she asked. "To move it, I mean. Obviously, the fracture must have hurt."

Near smiled slightly, though it was almost imperceptible. "Yes, that's right. It's why I use a recorder."

Sayu nodded. Just then, Linda sprinted back up to them, books in hand. "Okay Sayu, let's go!"

Sayu grinned, shouldered her stuff and beckoned to Near again, as they headed out of the door. They walked through the corridors away from their rooms in a comfortable silence.

"So, where are we going Sayu? I didn't actually ask, since I was just taking the fact that it would be much quieter for granted." Linda said, as they entered the Seinrich building.

"My brother Light said that I could pop by his room any time I needed some quiet space. It might be a bit crowded though. He has a roommate too. Apparently, he's a little strange. Not that I can really talk." Sayu said, as she tied her hair back.

Near smirked. "I really don't care about how crowded it is if it means that I can listen to my notes in peace."

Sayu grinned as she pressed the button for the lift. "I can guarantee that much, Near."

They reached his room quickly and Sayu rung the doorbell. Her brother answered it, his shirt unbuttoned and his hair rather messy. "Hey Sayu. And Company too. What's wrong?"

"Our room is really loud." Sayu said, pulling a face. "Near's roommates won't stop arguing, so I was wondering whether we could study quietly in your apartment?"

Light's eyes widened. "Oh, haven't you guys been to the study room? It's a place really close to the library where you can study quietly! Mr. Wammy himself studies there sometimes. I'll make you a map, if you're afraid of getting lost again, Sayu." He finished, winking mischievously at her. "Come in for now."

He opened the door and the three of them trooped into the living room. Their room was almost spotless and everything looked very new. Light disappeared into a place behind them and Sayu relaxed on his sofa.

To her surprise, a boy with messy black hair walked into the room with Light as he came back. They seemed to be arguing. "I refuse to believe that the molecular structure of Lysol is somehow better than the molecular structure of any other cleaning product, Light-kun. It's a waste of money and you know it."

"You'll see it my way after my experiment with the kitchen tomorrow, Lawli." said Light, rolling his eyes, as he grabbed a pencil from the table.

"Not again?" Sayu asked. "You had that argument with okaa-san as well."

"Hello Sayu-chan. How are you today?" Lawliet asked. She knew that he was Light's roommate, but Light had been right; he looked nothing like how Light had described him to be. He wore a white t-shirt that looked very crumpled and jeans that looked like they'd never seen a washing machine. His hair was a mess and he had huge black bags under his eyes, which made him look completely disinterested in the whole world. His monotone voice didn't help that expression.

"I'm fine thank, Lawliet-senpai." Sayu said, smiling.

"Lawliet?" asked Near suddenly, from where he'd been engrossed in untangling his recorder. He looked somewhat surprised to see Lawliet. "Hello cousin. I didn't know that you actually went to school here."

"Nate." Lawliet said, his eyes marginally widening. He looked rather put-upon the spot. "You're going to school then?"

"You suck at small-talk, Lawli." Light said, smirking. "You must be the infamous Nate River, right?"

"Correct. I suppose that you're aware that Lawliet has been avoiding me for over five years now?" Near asked, conversationally. Sayu could tell by the way he'd lowered his head and was twirling his hair, he was rather irritated by that. Not that Sayu wouldn't be in his position.

"It… I would say that it wasn't on purpose, but that would be lying." Lawliet said, pulling a face. "I confess, I'm not exactly sure how to deal with the fact that I was supposed to be a family replacement. I don't deal well with children."

"Somehow, I figured that out when you assumed, that at the age of eight, I would be able to cope with the emotional fallbacks of having an entire family die and had me analyse their exact deaths and the circumstances of their occurrence." Near said. There was literally no emotion in his voice. Sayu thought that this meant that the small boy was upset.

Again, not that she wouldn't be in his place. Light looked almost speechless. "Lawliet?" he asked, looking a little uncertain.

"I was twelve at the time and hated my own parents. How was I to know that you were upset?" asked Lawliet, turning his head away.

Light looked irritated. "Look, I know that you're pretty detached from the world, but really? How couldn't you tell that it was upsetting? How sheltered were you are a kid?"

"The perks and the downfall of being related to Quillsh Wammy." said Lawliet, pulling a face of sheer boredom as he hopped on the sofa opposite them sitting in a weird crouching position.

Linda blinked. "No way! You're related to Quillsh Wammy?!"

"Yes." Near said, twirling his hair, "And it's nothing but a pain."

"Agreed." said Lawliet, as he placed a thumb to his mouth.

"Who's Quillsh Wammy?" asked Sayu, feeling a little lost. The name sounded familiar, but Sayu wasn't quite sure.

"Sayu, Quillsh Wammy is the founder of the entire university! The University's named after him. He's the world's top philanthropist and almost ¾ of the money that he earns from his inventions and from his worldwide business company goes into funding education, orphanages and charities." said Linda looking pretty excited.

"Yeah, and he's pretty bad at looking after children, for all the stuff he funds around children." Near muttered.

Light merely lifted an eyebrow. "Well then, as interesting as this all is, I have a feeling that homework is a higher priority for everybody. Linda, you should probably take the map and the directions to the study room. I'm sure that Sayu will find a way to get lost. It was very nice meeting the three of you." He said, he as stood up and extended a hand to shake, to Linda and Near respectively.

Sayu pulled Light into a hug, punched him in the arm for the getting lost comment and waved to Lawliet as they left. Near was still frowning as they made their way down the stairs and Linda was still gaping at Near in shock, for daring to be related to the founder of the University. She stifled a grin and kept walking.

(X)

Sayu frowned as she entered the Liebspich Auditorium. It had become routine between her and Near, to sit next to each other for the lecture and then afterwards, she'd drag him out for a lunch with Linda. However, today, someone with blonde hair and a very familiar fashion sense was already sitting next to Near.

She pursed her lips a little, as she took the other seat next to Near. "Good morning Near," she said, as he took out her notebooks "Did you have trouble with the assignments?" she asked. It was a redundant question as Near rarely struggled with anything, but it was the polite thing to do.

"Why, did you?" asked the blonde boy, looking smug, from where he was leaning back in his chair, two legs off the floor.

"No, actually. For once, the topic was slightly more interesting than staring at the wall." she said, blandly. "Who are you?"

"Mihael Keehl." he said. "I wasn't aware that Near had a girlfriend."

"That would be because I don't." Near said, quietly, as he set the finished wavy rubiks cube on his desk. Sayu couldn't help but wonder where he got them from. Especially since she never saw the same one twice.

"Then who is she?" asked Mihael, eyes narrowing.

"_She_ is Sayu Yagami, a friend of Near's. We're….how do you English people put it?" Sayu frowned as she tried to recall the other word that was slightly less than friends.

"You can say it in Japanese. We're all fluent." Mihael said, tossing his hair back.

"Nakama. We're nakama." said Sayu and Mihael's eyes brightened in comprehension.

"Ah. I see." he said, a smirk playing on his lips. Sayu sighed and forced a smile unto her face. "You're Near's roommate, aren't you? The ones who never stop shouting?"

Near snorted a little at this and Mihael frowned. "I'm not always shouting." he said.

"You shout enough that it's become a monthly expense for most of Kavli building to purchase earplugs or headphones." said Sayu, flatly. Okay, Near was definitely suppressing laughter at that. Not that she didn't want to secretly laugh herself.

Mihael laughed and brushed a hand through his hair. "Okay, okay. So Matt and I don't get along that well. Still, it can't be that frequent."

"Oh, trust me, it is." Sayu said, darkly and to her surprise, Near had said it at the exact time as she had. She looked at him for a moment, before all of three of them started laughing.

"Tell you what," Sayu said, as she recovered, "If you can make it a whole month without shouting at Matt or disturbing Kavli building, we'll all go for dinner someplace, and I'll pay."

Near looked very surprised. For him, anyway. "I don't think you should have said that, Sayu. Mello never stops being hungry. He could eat you out of a house and home."

"Don't call me Mello!" he snapped, crossing his arms. "And I would not! You're so irritating! Just shut up!"

Sayu grinned. "Don't worry, Near, I doubt that he'll last the whole month."

'Mello' growled, furiously. "Just you wait! I'll not argue with anybody the whole month!"

"So we're on? Bet accepted?" asked Sayu, holding out a hand.

"Bet accepted." Mihael said, taking her hand and shaking, firmly.

(X)

"So you actually made a bet with one of the people who was bothering you to get them to shut up?" asked Light, as he took a delicate sip from his cup of coffee. It was Saturday and the two siblings were dining at a nearby brunch bakery.

"Yep!" said Sayu, smiling, as she split her pastry in half.

"As expected from a Yagami." said Light fondly, "Making the best of the situation."

"Speaking about making the best of the situation; twisting the truth about your roommate? More like downright lying!" said Sayu, grinning.

Light laughed, as he finished his coffee. "Well, Mikami-san is a close friend of mine and he does fit the description of _the_ perfect roommate. It's just, he's not _my_ roommate. Anyway, I like rooming with Lawliet. You know what okaa-san's like; if I told her the truth about Lawliet, she'd probably throw a fit and get my living conditions changed."

Sayu grinned. "True. What I don't get is how you put up with him. He's seems a little odd to have around."

Light smiled, genuinely. "He is. But you get used to him. And he's very clever. I might even say he's cleverer than me, if that's even possible."

"Haha, really? No wonder you two get along. I bet you spend the nights arguing over Machiavellian philosophy and the authoritarian regimes all over the world." Sayu teased, as she drunk her oolong tea.

Light laughed. "And about the true nature of justice and the deep inner mysteries of the world." he complied, and Sayu grinned.

"Well then, I hope you two enjoy your little geek fests into the nights. I bet it's the closest that you'll ever get to a girlfriend, Light." she said, leaning back in her chair.

"I think my girlfriend would rather protest at that." Light said, a smirk playing on his lips.

Sayu bolted upright in her chair. "What? Girlf—Light, you didn't tell anybody that you had a girlfriend!"

Light smirked and sipped his tea. "It's not really recent, but I didn't want our parents to find out. I'm here to study, not date." he said, imitating their Fathers voice. "I've been dating her for a year and a half now."

"Light! I can understand not telling okaa-san and otou-san, but what about me? I'd have hardly told them!" Sayu protested, as she crossed her arms over her chest. First the roommate thing, now this…did she really know Light at all?

"You'd have acted funny if I had told you. They aren't stupid; they'd have figured out that you were hiding something. Now, you're away from them most of the year, and any changes in behaviour will be passed off as your growing up." said Light pacifyingly. "It's not like I wanted to keep her a secret from you anyway."

"What's her name?" asked Sayu, feeling curious.

"Her name's Misa. Misa Amane. She's a model and she's aiming towards being an actress. She's a year older than me but she went here too, majoring in Drama and Music." said Light. "She's been a model since she was a child, but she's only recently started working as a singer."

"What's she look like?" asked Sayu, smiling a little. She didn't sound like Light's type…but well, she really didn't know that much about her brother.

In response, Light removed a picture from his wallet and handed it to Sayu. Sayu blinked; they really were serious, if Light had a picture of Misa in his wallet. The girl was short, standing next to Light, but she looked stunning. She had long blonde hair, plump red lips and pretty green eyes. She wore what looked like a leather dress, that looked very short and scandalous, with fishnet tights and large stomping boots. She really didn't look like a 'respectable' date, but the smile on her face looked completely sincere, and even Light was smiling and looking very relaxed with Misa, their arms intertwined.

Sayu smiled. "You two look very sweet together." she said, smiling. "Tell me when I can meet her, okay? I can't wait to chat with her!"

Light smiled, and looked almost relieved. "So you aren't angry?" he asked, as he placed his wallet back in his pocket.

"I am," said Sayu, "But I forgive you and I understand. You can make it up by letting me meet her soon, okay?"

Light smiled and stood up. "Well then, need a hand with anything homework wise?"

Sayu pouted. "Yes please! I'm having so much trouble with these Science projects that I have to finish off! I still don't get why I have to take Physics again in College, when it isn't even my major!"

Light laughed. "Don't worry, I'll explain it all!" he said, and they got up to head to the Study Room.

(X)

"So Linda, how is it that you managed to fill our room with so much clutter?" asked Sayu, as she waded her way through cardboard and cans of paint that lay everywhere.

"International Art Competition." said Linda, absently, as she balanced precariously on the stepladder to reach the top of the structure she'd made. "I told you a while back, right?"

"Yes, but this stuff is everywhere, Linda! How am I supposed to cook when the kitchen's filled with clay and paint and other recycled materials?" Sayu asked, feeling angry.

"Yeah, Freeman." said Takada, as she tried to open her door. "How the hell am I supposed to get out with all of this junk everywhere?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, your Majesty, I'll be sure to drop everything to make you comfortable." said Linda acidly, as she finished a section of painting. She capped her paintbrush and hopped down from her stepladder lightly.

"Help me pack this all away in the closet, won't you Sayu?" asked Linda, violently unjamming the door and sarcastically waving Takada through again.

Sayu sighed, feeling more than slightly petulant. She knew that it was childish, but she was so fed up of having to navigate through junk every day. "Fine. But I can't help but feel that this will all be more relaxing when you're done. For all of us." she said, as Takada walked away. She thought she heard an agreeing sniff as their apartment door slammed.

"Sorry for working at this, so much. I'm just taking advantage of the quiet. Who knows when that lot will start up again!?" Linda says darkly.

Sayu blinks, her bad mood clearing a little. "Didn't I tell you? For this month, they won't argue. At least, they'll try to not argue." she said.

Linda turned around and frowned. "What?" she asked.

Sayu grinned a little. "Yeah, I made a bet with the Mello bloke, because he's in my Criminal Justice classes. The blonde one. If he could not argue with his other roommate for one month, I'd treat all three of them to dinner."

Linda whistled. "Wow, Sayu! That's awesome! I bet if the rest of Kavli found out, they'd actually throw an orgy for you!"

Sayu flushed. "Don't be silly. We don't know if they're actually going to hold up to it or not, anyway."

Linda smiled. "They will. Something you should know about Europeans, Sayu, if there's a chance to mooch off somebody? They'll always take it, no matter what."

Sayu laughed. "I think that's a worldwide phenomenon, Linda! Whenever I said that I'd pay, everyone ate double the amount they usually did!"

Linda laughed and scratched the back of her head. "I guess that just goes to show that all humans are greedy?"

(X)

Sayu smiled a little, as she finished the sociology questionnaire. "Thank you for letting me interview you, Mikami-senpai." she said, bowing as she stood up from the study room table.

"It wasn't a problem, Sayu-chan." he said, smiling a little, as he adjusted his glasses. "Do ask if you need my help again."

"You're an angel, Mikami-senpai!" she said, with a laugh, "I swear, it's like you never get tired of helping other people."

Mikami flushed a little and looked up. "It makes me feel happy when I know that I've been able to help other people. It's really a rather selfish, in actuality, but since it benefits them, most people call it selflessness."

Sayu smiled. "I can see why you're Light's friend now! You two would have a tonne of moral discussion. Bye-bye again, Mikami-senpai."

She turned to leave the library, when she was waylaid by a boy in stripes and with goggles over his eyes. He was familiar looking, but Sayu couldn't quite remember why….

"You're the one who lives at Kavli 345, aren't you?" asked the boy, running a hand through his hair. "The one who got Mello to stop arguing with me, right?"

"That's right!" said Sayu, finally placing his face. He was Near's other roommate.

To her surprise, he immediately hugged her. Sayu froze a little. "Can you let me go, please?" she asked, and he let go almost instantly. There was an excited look on his face.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_! You have no idea how much easier my life has been these past few days. Thank you!" he blabbered and Sayu felt a little bemused.

"Let's head out. We're being too inconsiderate to the people trying to study in quiet." she said, and clicked in her flats out of the door, trying to not laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of this situation. Light would find it amusing, she knew. They finally reached the outdoors and Sayu sank onto a bench. The boy flopped down after her.

"I really can't thank you enou—" he started and Sayu shushed him.

"Please, don't. I didn't do it for you. It was just to save my ears, especially if I'm to stay there for the next four years of my life. If I had met you instead of Mello, I would have tried the same thing. And, sorry, but I don't know your name."

"It's Mail Jeevas. But I prefer Matt." 'Matt' scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I must have embarrassed you, right? I was just so excited, once Mello told me the reason he was actually trying to get along with me. It's been nice having to actually have conversations instead of shouting matches over whether the fridge really does need cleaning or whose turn it is."

Sayu laughed a little, as much as he seemed socially awkward, he could be funny. And in any case, he seemed more inclined to talk than Near was, and Sayu managed to put up with awkward silences of being anywhere near Near.

"Must be nice, I guess. Especially since all of your roommates are in the top 10% of Wammy's. Intelligent conversation is kind of tricky for me, unless I locate my brother and that's too complicated for me." Sayu said, with a laugh.

"You're in top 10% too, right?" asked Matt, as he pulled out a video game.

"Yeah, that's right. But only just, really." Sayu said, ignoring it. She was used to Near's stuff, she could put up with a silent videogame. "My major's courses override the bad scores I get from the necessary ones."

Matt laughed. "Tell me about it! I thought I'd escaped the boredom of compulsory courses by specializing in University, but no! I still get stuck analyzing literature. Why do I care that the curtains were blue and cracked? It's doubtful the author meant symbolism, especially when they're writing a 2000 page book. It's more likely that, you know, the curtains were blue and cracked because the house was old and neglected, not because the main character was depressed and the house was his mortal enemy, you know?" Matt ranted and Sayu laughed.

"If Mello is as opinionated as he seemed to be when I met him and you do this on a daily basis, I can kind of see why you two got into arguments." said Sayu and Matt flushed.

"Yeah. But it's really nice to have him speaking like a civilized person for once, so I haven't ranted to my roommates in a while. Sorry about that. I just want to keep the peace." he said, looking really embarrassed.

Sayu smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't we all? Don't worry about ranting, I really don't mind. If it keeps the peace for a little while longer, I'd be happy to."

Matt nodded. "It's nice to have him around." he said, his cheeks turning a shade of red that Sayu hadn't thought was possible.

Sayu frowned, what about his previous sentence would make him go—Ahh. "Might I be correct in saying that those arguments were something akin to lover's spats?"

Matt spluttered and protested, "No!" in a very loud voice before sinking a little into his chair and mumbling; "I wish."

Sayu suppressed a smile. "Tell you what, during this period of peace, maybe you two should go clubbing or something. Get him drunk or yourself. Then you might be able to make a more lasting friendship than toleration."

Matt's face seemed to brighten and he seemed lost in the possibilities. Then, he frowned. 'There are so many ways that could go wrong."

"There are so many ways it could go right." Sayu retorted and Matt smiled and held out a hand for her to shake, as he tucked away his videogame.

"It was nice meeting you, Sayu."

"You too, Matt." said Sayu, shaking his hand, before walking over to Panovsky Building to interview her next person for Sociology. She could have interviewed Matt, but Sayu didn't feel particularly inclined to do that. She was willing to listen to his problems, to keep the peace, but it didn't mean that she had to actually like the time spent in his company.

Sayu wasn't sure why she didn't like him; there been nothing about him that was overtly dislikeable…it's just, Sayu felt uneasy around him, that was all. Maybe it was because he looked like an auburn-haired clone of Light or maybe it was something else, but Sayu felt uneasy around him.

It was stupid. He seemed to have no romantic interest in girls and really liked her for what's she'd done, so Sayu wasn't in danger from unwanted advances. So… what was she really afraid of?

…Was it that he could have been Light? Was it that Light could have been him? Sayu, for all of her knowledge of Sociology, couldn't answer her own question.

(X)

Into the secondd week of her bet with Mello, she got a note from Light telling her that Misa had finally gotten time off work and that if Sayu ever wanted to see her, she'd better show up on Friday afternoon at his apartment. It had been worded in a more polite manner than that, but Sayu was used to filtering out the junk in Light's letters.

Sayu dressed up prettily and walked over to Seinrich building, leaving Linda in an art-filled mess that was currently their apartment, without a second regret. If Linda was going to ruin the cleanliness, Sayu just simply wouldn't stay there, until it was clean again.

She knocked on the door, feeling eager to meet Misa. Light opened the door, looking tired. A smile came to his face when he saw her, though. "Hey Sayu," he said, letting her in, "You look nice today."

"Thanks, Light!" she exclaimed, but stared at him. Why did he look like he was about to collapse over in exhaustion.

"Misa's in the living room," he said, his voice almost defeated, if she listened carefully enough.

Light plastered a fake smile unto his face as they walked into the living room. The famous model was curled up next to Lawliet, who seemed to be studiously ignoring her, a skill that was pretty impressive considering that Misa was practically on top of him. Lawliet, seemed pretty relaxed though; he was eating cake with one hand and reading a science magazine with the other.

"Hello Lawliet-san!" Sayu said, smiling brightly. "Hello Amane-san!"

Misa immediately stopped leaning over Lawliet and turned over to Sayu. Sayu immediately noted the thick makeup. It didn't stop her being very beautiful, but Sayu felt that the make-up clouded a lot of her natural prettiness. Sayu also noticed the slutty clothing. She really didn't think that Light and Misa seemed compatible. Still, Light had seemed happy with her in that picture. However…he looked pretty harried now. Was the novelty wearing out or something?

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Sayu-chan! Oh, Misa loves your hair!" said Misa, immediately reaching out to touch Sayu's naturally curly hair.

Sayu flushed a little. "It's very nice to meet you as well, Amane-san. I hope you're doing well and that my brother is treating you well."

Misa beamed and grabbed Light's arm. he's smiled weakly as she hugged him tightly. "Oh, he's the perfect boyfriend! Please though; call Misa, Misa-chan! Misa would hate for there to be formalities between family!"

Sayu blinked. Family? Sayu'd only just met her. And their parents didn't even know that Misa existed.

"Tea, anybody?" asked Light, smiling tersely.

'Thank you, Light-kun. My usual, please." said Lawliet, not looking up from his magazine.

"Just a milk, please! Because I'm sweet enough!" Misa said, with a wink, as she flounced back to the sofa.

"I'll help you make them," Sayu said, as they entered the kitchen. Light shook his head.

"You don't need to help me." he said, calmly. "You're my guest, I'll deal with this."

"I'm not here to help you make tea, Light. I want to work out what's wrong. You seem angry and unhappy that Misa's here, not happy! Why?" whispered Sayu furiously.

"I'm fine." Light said, "I'm just not feeling too well. I have a cold."

Under any other circumstances, Sayu would have agreed with Light, but his lie seemed almost pathetic now.

"Don't. Don't try to pretend that your sadness doesn't exist. I'm your sister! Can't you tell me anything? What am I, an ornament to hoist out every now and then as a trophy? A comparison point? I'm supposed to help you and you're supposed to help me. That's how it's supposed to work!" she hissed.

Light rolled his eyes. "Don't get melodramatic. Of course, I trust you."

"It certainly doesn't look that way!" Sayu hissed, acidly. "I'm always the last to know anything about you! About your roommate, about your girlfriend, about your friends! I barely know anything about you. Do I even know who you are, Light?"

Light stared at her, looking irritated, the first expression of anger on his face, since what seemed like forever. "Just leave me alone, Sayu! Shut up about things that you don't understand!"

"Going to pull the genius card on me? Nice try, it takes no genius to be able to tell that you've been lying to me about everything that's important! In any case, I've more than matched your achievements. I'm here, aren't I? I'm in the top ten percentile! I got here! I made it here my own way!" Sayu hissed, keeping their sibling spat quiet.

"Made it your own way. As if!" Light hissed, his eyes furrowed. "I laid the foundations, I helped you every step of the way, and the reason you have it easy, is because my name carved that path out! I asked Lawli to ask Mr. Wammy to let you in! You wouldn't have been accepted otherwise! I knew that you would work hard once you got here! But I made sure you got here! So don't you talk to me about doing it alone. You don't know anything, Sayu!"

Sayu staggered backwards, mouth gaping. He'd done… what?

But…. she'd made it here herself…. she'd reached him, hadn't she? By herself? She'd touched Light's greatness, by her own achievements! Her National grades had been As!

She'd… hadn't she? Hadn't she done it herself?

"You're lying." she whispered. "My grades in nationals were exemplary."

"Not good enough for a scholarship to Wammy's University." Light said, his face into smug smirk. "I did that. I got you here. Because I loved you."

"No! You must be lying! I… I…..I don't need you to do everything for me, Light! I wanted to make it by myself! I wanted to get to Wammy's by myself! I thought….I thought I was there! I thought I'd finally reached you! I thought we could finally stand as equals!" Sayu said. She would have shouted at him, if she'd had any energy left. All she could feel now was a dead sense of shock.

Light frowned at her. "Aren't you grateful?" he asked. "You would have never made it here without me!"

Sayu slapped him angrily. "Of course I'm not! How would that feel, Light, if I told you that the university offer you had thought had come from your own hard work, came from pity? How could you do that to me? How could you? You're not Light! I don't know who you are, but you aren't my brother. My brother Light…my brother would have respected my abilities and not acted like I needed charity! I hate you!"

Light held his cheek and glared at her, breathing heavily. Sayu glared back at him, struggling to keep the tears at bay. She didn't really belong here. Her place at the coveted, prestigious university was a lie. A favour. Charity. Did…did she have to leave? Did she have to go home? Let the place go to a more deserving student?

Just the thought of leaving, made her throat ache from the strain of not crying. But, her father had raised her to be honest. And she was honest. She would go tell administration this weekend and leave. Finding another university would be tough, but she didn't really belong here.

Lawliet walked into the kitchen to the sight of an almost sobbing Sayu and Light clutching a red cheek.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked, looking between them, barely blinking.

"Not at all, Lawliet-san. I was just leaving. I forgot about an urgent meeting I have. You'll have to excuse me." Sayu said, grimly forcing a smile unto her face.

(X)

"Sayu, come out! Please, I just want to know what's wrong!" yelled Linda as she banged on the door of their bedroom.

"Please, Linda, just leave me be." said Sayu, wiping away the errant tears as she folded her clothes into her suitcase. It was already hard enough to leave the best experience of her life, but she wasn't staying any longer, if it wasn't her place.

"Fine. But I'll be back." Linda said, her voice sounding desperate. Sayu relaxed a little and leant her head against the door and let herself cry a little. She hates being such a stereotypical girl, but she's never felt more at home than she does now at Wammy's University. She loves it here. the lessons, the campus, the people. Even Takada-san was tolerable, at times.

Sayu closed her eyes, took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She wouldn't cry anymore. She would leave. And someone else out there would gain amazing friends and the experience of a lifetime. And that was fine. They deserved it more than she did. She hadn't earned her place here.

"Sayu?" asked Near's voice. "Are you still there?"

"Near? Did Linda bother you? You'll have to forgive her." Sayu said, her voice still shaky, despite her pledge to not cry.

"There's nothing to forgive. She asked me to get an answer, since you refuse to talk to her. I think it's out of character for you to shun your friends, so I agreed to help. It's a good sociology experiment, anyway." Near said and Sayu scowled. Was she just an experiment to him?

"There's nothing to analyse, Near. I just need some time by myself." said Sayu.

"Incorrect." said Near, "You need to talk about your worries. I don't think that I'm the right person to do it to, but I'm willing to listen."

"I'm fine!" Sayu shouted, but she could feel the tears pouring over her eyes. Damnit! She'd promised herself that she wouldn't cry!

"Logically, you're crying, which means that you aren't fine. I think talking about it would be rather beneficial to your well-being." Near said, sounding pretty unconcerned.

Sayu should have been angry about this, but all she could feel was a gratefulness. "Will…Do you actually want to?"

"Not really, but go ahead. If it means that you'll stop crying and start thinking, then yes, I'm all for it." said Near and Sayu laughed weakly, sniffling a little. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, leaving wet patches along her nice shirt and started explaining her predicament and what Light had done.

Near was silent for a little while afterwards. Sayu sniffed again. "Silly of me to be so upset over it. I just need to go home and free up a place for a more worthy student."

"Sayu, I don't think that will be necessary at all." said Near and Sayu stopped.

"What do you mean?" asked Sayu, "Are you saying I should lie about getting this place myself?"

"No. I'm saying that you did earn this place yourself." said Near, sounding almost bored." I may not have had the most stable childhood with Mr. Wammy, but I know my grandfather very well. Even if he was recommended someone by Lawliet, he wouldn't just blindly accept that person into the college."

"How do you know that?" asked Sayu. Despite herself, a smidgen of hope was creeping into her heart.

"Do you know that Mr. Wammy looks into students for the University and investigates nearly all of them by himself or gets his staff to gather the information, and he does the actual selections himself? If you got into this University, it's on merit. He might not have noticed you without a prod from Lawliet, but you deserved this place in the university. Everybody works to reach the top, in Mr. Wammy's world. If you're good, you reach the top. No easy rides for anybody, not even himself or his family. I know that well. I earned my place here, and so did Lawliet." explained Near.

"So… it was just a recommendation on Lawliet's behalf? I wasn't given this place because of pity?" asked Sayu.

"Of course not." said Near sounding impatient. "Now, are you done crying?"

Sayu unlocked the door, knowing that she probably looked like a mess but she pulled Near into a tight hug, anyway. "Thank you!" she whispered into his ear.

She let go and Near looked pretty shocked and then he flushed a bright red. Sayu giggled a little. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." said Near, his hand going to his hair, as he looked away. "I'll be going now. Tell me if you need any other help. Educational, preferably."

Sayu nodded and waved. She was aware of just how rude she'd been to Light, but she'd meant every word. And so had he. Light had thought that his help would be appreciated, but Light should have known her. Even if Light had never been open with her, Sayu had always been open with Light. Light should have known how proud she'd been of doing this all by herself. He should have known. And Sayu wasn't sure she could forgive Light for committing the same fallacy that she had.

(X)

Sayu sighed as she tucked her books under her arm, as she walked along the pathway. Gosh, but England got so cold in the winter. She loved the heat of Japan, and there was none of that, here.

It didn't help that she'd been working harder than ever lately. Even if she had actually deserved this place, she wanted to show Mr. Wammy that he'd made the right decision in choosing her for the University. He'd probably never know how hard she'd worked to prove that, but it was more of a promise to herself, anyway.

Sayu sighed as she rummaged in her bag for some gloves. She couldn't find any. That was a pain, now she'd have to search thr—

Sayu fell backwards with a thump as she walked straight into somebody. Sayu opened her mouth to apologize and blinked.

"Light?" she asked.

"Sayu?" he asked, looking equally shocked. He wore a thick felt coat and a green scarf. His hair immaculate as per usual, but he looked like he'd been out in the cold for a while, as his nose, cheeks and ears were all tinged much redder than usual. Just looking at him made her stomach turn. But, not with disgust.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, and to her surprise, Light did as well. They both glanced at each other.

"Do you forgive me?" she asked and Light did as well. Sayu threw him a look. Was he timing it to be in sync or were their thoughts actually in tune for once?

"Light, I…." Sayu started. Light wasn't in unison with her. Whatever. "Won't you come to lunch? So we can sort this all out?"

(X)

Sayu unwrapped her scarf and sat down in the warm café. She'd chosen a fairly crowded one so that they wouldn't start shouting at each other, if things got too heated. They were both very aware of physical appearances, after all.

After the waiter brought their meals to their tables. Light finally looked up at her, his honey-brown eyes looking pleading. "You were right, Sayu." he said, his voice sounding leaden. "I wasn't happy this weekend. And it's a complex situation and it's still confusing even to me. So you have to promise to listen and not interrupt until I've finished. Please."

"Of course. I'm here for you Light. I always will be. Even if you aren't always perfect." said Sayu. "I'm just glad you feel that you can trust me now."

Light smiled weakly and stirred his coffee, not meeting her eyes. "I'm not in love with Misa. And she isn't in love with me. All we are, is friends. I met her when I was in my freshman year, because she needed help with her science stuff and I was one of the best in the year and I was looking for more money. She and I became really fast friends, which is weird, because I never would have thought that someone like her would have been so clever. She just couldn't deal with science."

"Wait, sorry. Just a mo…. Misa's clever?" asked Sayu and Light laughed, drawn from his reverie.

"Yes, Sayu, even if she doesn't look like it. She did come to Wammy's University. She was taking a Music Major and a Philosophy minor. I had a lot of fascinating discussions with her and Lawliet." Light said, smiling over his cup of soup. "And then she left at the end of my junior year and started modeling. She was happy for a while, but then she started being really down."

Light took a sip from his coffee and snapped his bread baguette in half. "I asked her why and she said it was because she was getting unwanted attention from a lot of people. The old men in charge of the modeling company, the photographers and random male models who thought that she was easy. She was kind of creeped out by it all."

Sayu winced sympathetically. Misa was very pretty, she could see the attention that she would get.

"Then the stalker incident happened. She was followed home by some crazy guy who was convinced that he was the only person who could love her and he almost stabbed her. A passerby called Remira Roberts, I think, noticed it and saved Misa, by distracting the man so Misa could make a run for it. After that, Misa kind of looked herself in her apartment for a week and refused to leave."

Sayu was reminded a little of her little melodramatic show in her flat and scratched the back of her head, sheepishly.

"I then talked to her and she thought some of the attention would be relieved if she had a boyfriend and was very involved with said boyfriend. The thing is, she didn't love anyone that way. So, I volunteered to pretend to be in love with her until she found someone that she actually liked. "

Sayu blinked. What? Light was…pretending? Then, that smile in the photo…had been fake? Just how good at acting was Light?

"Yeah. It's kind of silly, but it worked. People backed off and Misa was much happier. We went on a couple of fake dates and stuff, but nothing really serious. We had fun together, but both of us knew that we weren't actually in love. Thing is, Misa's not found her love yet and…I think I have." Light said, pulling a face.

Sayu leant forward, her eyes lighting up. "Really, Light? That's brilliant? Who is it?"

Light's face was now a bright red and he whispered something that Sayu could barely hear.

"Repeat that." said Sayu, a mischievous smirk threatening to break onto her face.

He did and Sayu merely smiled. "Repeat that. I couldn't quite catch that, Light."

Light glared at her, his teeth gritted. "Lawliet, okay!? I think I like him more than a platonic friendship!"

Sayu merely giggled. "Why so embarrassed, Light?"

"Can you imagine what okaa-san would say?" asked Light, burying his face in his scarf. "Or otou-san? I'd be an outcast. People would whisper behind my back.

Sayu giggled. "They do that anyway, Light! I can't believe that you actually care about what they think about you. In fact, I don't even know why you're worried about our parents. It's not like you're the perfect son anyway, what with all of these secrets. Just fess up."

"Easy for you to say. Gay people are still social outcasts. I make my way through life through a mixture of contacts and hard work." Light said, "Being gay doesn't really help that, at all."

"Then don't tell them." Sayu said, rolling her eyes, "Why do they need to know anyway, right? It's your private life. Just don't outwardly date Lawliet. And don't date anyone else, either. Say that you want to focus on your studies."

Light looked at her, completely seriously. "You've never had about 40 girls wanting to know everything about your lifer. Sayu, I have a fanclub. They'll never leave me alone if I stop outwardly dating."

Sayu spluttered. "What?!"

Light looked exasperated now. "Yes, Sayu. A fanclub. With pictures. And screaming if they see me during a class."

Sayu was in utmost fits of giggles. Light looked consternated and shook his head as he leant back in his chair. "People are so strange." he muttered.

"Ignore them. Who cares what they say? Just tell them to fuck off and that will become their next motto." said Sayu, barely concealing snickers.

Light rolled his eyes. "What about you, anyway? How goes life in the world of Sayu? We didn't really get a chance to talk this weekend."

"Not much. Near only just managed to convince me to not leave the university. Light…did you really recommend me to Lawliet? Did you actually ask him to try and get me enrolled?" asked Sayu, biting her lip.

Light nodded. "Yeah. But, I didn't tell him outright, I only hinted at it. Not, like how I really said it on Saturday. But, to be honest, when I heard that you'd got the acceptance letter, I only really thought that my proddings had gotten you considered. It's horrible of me, but the thought didn't even cross my mind that you had the scores for Wammy's by yourself." said Light, not looking at Sayu.

Sayu blinked. That was hurtful. But…then again, Sayu couldn't blame him. Light had left for college before Sayu had made her turn-around into a student who really cared about her education and her grades. She supposed that Light still thought of her as the young girl who'd been obsessed with movie stars and clothes. After all, when had she made the effort to change that outlook of Light's? When had she shown Light that she was up to his level?

"Light… I was hurt by that comment, but then I understand why it happened too. I wasn't very smart or motivated to be smart when you were around. But, for the past four years, I've been working my socks off to try and reach a standard where I could try and touch your standard. Because, there was this quote I read once. It's lonely at the top, isn't it? Without anyone else on your level? And I know that I'll never be able to reach you with my own talents, but I've been trying so hard so maybe you'd be able to talk to me and treat me as an equal. You probably don't need that now though, what with all of the genii around you already, right?" Sayu said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Light leant forward and grasped her hands, smiling. "I'll always need my little sister. Especially when she does things like this for me. I didn't know that you wanted to reach the top because of me! I just thought you'd found some outside motivation."

Sayu smiled and squeezed his hands. "You're my only brother, Light. I would follow you to the ends of the Earth."

"This is where it gets sappy in most movies, doesn't it?" asked Light, as he removed his hands from hers.

Sayu laughed. They were back to their usual camaderie. Good. She hated tip-toeing around Light. She didn't know whether Light was finally telling the truth or not, but Sayu didn't care. He was pretending to appreciate her, at least, and that was all Sayu needed.

(X)

"Hey Linda," asked Sayu, as she stared at a Linda who was silently glaring at her creation of junk. "Why don't you just go for something from the heart?"

"Like what, Sayu?" asked Linda, looking frustrated.

Sayu sighed and grabbed a piece of paper from the ground and an errant pencil. Sayu started sketching away and before she knew it, a rough sketch of the…unique university shape was on the paper.

"Make that. Fill it with love and the happiness we've all had together. Fill it with little details. Make it happy. Like we've been happy." Sayu said. "My mother said something once, and I always dismissed it, but it's pretty true, I've noticed. When you do something, think positive and fill yourself with positive emotions. That way, it will always have a positive result. That's one of the Buddhist teachings."

"Didn't take you for a traditionalist, Yagami." said Takada, looking up from where she was attempting to replay her video film on their shared TV.

"I'm not." said Sayu, crossing her arms, "But my mother is. It's really irritating. I keep finding spirit wards in my suitcases and all over my clothing. Not to mention, little Buddha idols."

Takada looked like she was on the verge of cracking a smile. "Same here. My father's the religious one, though. He filled one of my suitcases, which I'd reserved for books and textbooks, with buddha idols. I've sold most of them, as authentic Japanese lucky charms, but I can't get rid of the really ugly ones."

Sayu's eyes brightened. "Why didn't I think of that?! That's brilliant, Taka-san! Yes, it'll get me some money and get rid of them!"

Takada looked taken aback. "Taka-san?" she asked, looking really confused.

Sayu scratched the back of her head. "Sorry. I usually like to shorten people's names where I can. Or use nicknames. I'll desist if you don't like it."

Takada looked away. "No, I don't mind. No one's ever given me a nickname before, is all."

Linda gave Sayu a look of utter bewilderment before silently applauding, shaking her head, in sheer shock. "I'll do that Sayu," she said, faintly, "Sounds good."

Sayu merely smirked. Unlike Linda, she'd never been under the assumption that Takada was inherently crabby. There was a good side to everybody, right? Just like there was a bad side to everybody. Another Buddhist principle that hadn't become useful until today.

If this streak continued, she might actually start going to temples and praying, which she hadn't done since she was 13! And wouldn't Light laugh?!

(X)

"I cannot believe that Mello actually survived the whole month." Near said, unexpectedly, speaking up first as the five of them crammed into the seating booth of the café. Linda had tagged along because, without Sayu, she would have starved. The two boys were eagerly checking the menu and Linda was joining in. Sayu found their bonding over mutual love of food, rather amusing.

"I can't quite believe it either. I can only hope that it stays that way." said Sayu, as she sipped her water. She didn't feel particularly hungry, since she was paying for it herself. Funny how that happened.

"I just think it might," Near murmured, "Matt and Mello now no longer fight anymore. Instead, they end up kissing in random corners of the apartment. I can only be grateful that I now have my own room and there are no longer any noises that are as disturbing. Still, it is rather irritating."

Sayu smiled a little, briefly. "True, that. It's nice to actually be able to do my homework in peace, in my room."

Near paused. "Speaking of homework," he asked, "Do you think you could explain the process behind the scenes of the Asch's Conformity Experiment? My recorder couldn't catch what he was saying."

Sayu grinned. "Sure. But why are you still using the recorder? Didn't your cast come off last week? she asked, as she passed along the napkins to Matt who'd split some water in his excitement over finding sushi in the restaurant's menu.

Near smirked. "Recorders are more useful than writing notes. This way, I don't have to scramble to write down his every word and I can actually spend time in the lesson understanding concepts. Then, I can use the recorder to memorise the exact definitions later. It's a much easier way of learning. Besides, there aren't any rules against it."

Sayu laughed. "You shouldn't be studying Criminal Justice, you should be studying Criminal Law! That sort of loophole finding is what lawyers do best, right?"

"Why should lawyers hog all of the clever thinkers, right?" asked Mello, as he leant forward. "They have enough shrewd thinkers. But, you know, can't speak for Near, but having a mind for loopholes myself, I feel that I can get more work done fighting crime, rather than fighting the law. Fighting the law to try and get criminals convicted or not convicted can sometimes feel useless and can take years without any concrete results. However, being in the police or working as a private detective? That means you can get a lot more done." he finished, a smirk on his face.

"Agreed." Matt said, leaning back. "Anyway, where are people needed the most? Definitely in the police field. There are tonnes of people simply lining up to go into the lawyer field, but not many wish to actually work to catch those criminals. Aiming to work as a professional hacker for the police and to stop crime is something I wish to do with all my heart."

Linda smiled a little. "Tell me about needing people in the field. I took a job last year, as a police artist. The police force is seriously understaffed. I found myself doing paperwork for them, more often than I was actually drawing criminal faces."

"Bureaucracy is taking over everything." Near stated, calmly. "What the world needs, are people who can take immediate action, without having to wade through paperwork."

"What, like superheroes?" asked Sayu, feeling a little amused by the turn of the conversation.

"No, that's stupid. Powers like that in comic books, don't exist. But using our own talents? Matt's hacking, Linda's art and our brains? Sure, why not?" Mello asked.

"Be a super crime-fighting detective squad in our spare time?" asked Sayu, smirking. "A little trite, isn't it?"

"Sounds like something Mr. Wammy would approve of." Near muttered and Matt's eyes widened behind his goggles.

"That's it! We can get Mr. Wammy to be our Alfred! We can have a secret lair behind the library and have awesome gadgets and costumes!" he gushed and Sayu laughed as Mello face-palmed.

"Not like that, idiot!" exclaimed Mello.

"Yeah, it doesn't need to be like that." said Linda, smiling. "Sometimes, the best work comes from being reliable and trustworthy. We'd need a lot of flash and interesting things to happen to us at the beginning, to we can get as much attention as possible, but from there, you'd want to fade into relative anonymity; just being there as a force of good without the attention of the media or the criminals."

"We'd need people who are good at dealing with people." said Mello, "Somehow, I don't think we have many of those."

Everybody turned to look at Sayu. "Who, me?" asked Sayu, "You can't possibly mean that, right?"

"Who else?" asked Linda. "You actually made Takada smile, you're friends with everyone in Kavli, the teachers all love you… you're practically everybody's friend."

Sayu flushed a little. "Don't be silly. Light's much better at this than I am. He has a much better charisma. He even has a fanclub, of all things!"

"But we don't want flashy gestures." said Near, quietly. "Maybe near the beginning, like Linda said; we could temporarily ask him and my cousin for help, but really, what we'd need to start a detective agency; is a quietly forceful but reliable person, that's good with other people, not just data. And you're very good at that."

Sayu twisted her ponytail around her finger. "You're all serious about this? An actual detective agency on top of gaining our degrees?"

"Yeah." Mello said, smiling as he tipped back a glass of water, "We're serious. Right?"

Everyone nodded. Sayu grinned. "Okay then, we'd need to be practical about money and get somewhere to set up equipment. We'd also need contacts in the police and in the media…."

(X)

"Near, what do you see in Bakerloo station?" asked Sayu, as she hopped out of the bus, her transmitter to her ear.

"The target's making his way out the station, now. Mello's got the tag on him. He should be coming out of the west entrance. Remember, don't scare him. Just ask for direction help and let Mello deal with the handcuffing." Near said, through the transmitter, his soft voice barely audible over the commotion outside the station. She hated rush-hour London.

"Got it." Sayu said, grimly. "Matt, deal with the camera."

"Already have. You have fifteen minutes. Move quickly." said Matt's terse voice over the headset.

She saw their target, suspected murderer of four children and two adults, as they had been trekking in the country for a scout badge. He didn't look like much.

"Excuse me sir," she said, putting on a fake french accent, "Can you help me find Fleet Street?"

"Fleet Street?" asked the man. He sounded like a typical Londoner, faint cockney accent and all. "Sure thing, luv. You just have to go up here, turn at the third left, circle round this junction and you'll arrive there. It isn't a—"

He was cut off by Mello's handcuffs making contact with his hands. Mello smirked at Sayu. "Now then, Jack Snyder, you are being arrested under suspicion of murdering four children and two adults in Somerset last week. All that you say can and will be used against you. We're just going to ask a couple of questions at the station, and then you'll be taken to jail until your court case." she said, professionally, dropping the French accent.

He gaped at her and Mello grinned again. The truth is, that he'd be taking a little detour to their building, where L and Light would cross-interrogate him to discover all of the truth from his perspective, before being taken to prison, but that was beyond the question.

Snyder gaped at them, looking completely floored. Mello snickered a little, as they dragged him down the busy street to where Linda's car was waiting, so they could take him away.

"100 cases successfully solved now, right?" asked Mello, as they entered the car.

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched." Sayu said, mildly, before smiling a little. There was little evidence that Synder was innocent. He would go to jail for what he'd done. Justice would be done. All was well.

**AN: I had so much fun writing this. This is loosely based on Sarapys' lovely story Real Genii, on her deviant-art page. The university and circumstances are changed quite a lot, but it was interesting writing this. There was very little as far as plot went, but a lot of character interaction and development (I hope). **

**Sayu's always been a great narrator for me, because of her insecurities. You'll notice that Sayu's been the narrator for three stories now, in my short story collection. She's a lot like Mello in that aspect, but she has a lot more fortune in her background and she idolizes Light. She's interesting to write and a pretty neutral character. Which makes her perfect to mould and meld and shape. **

**Also, I'm not a fan of L/Light in canon, but AU? Sure, whatever. I'm completely fine with it. I hope that this was slightly plausible, in any case, considering their circumstances, but whatever. I had fun, no regrets. **


End file.
